The Pure
by bandgeek276
Summary: What would happen if the Lone Wanderer jouneyed forth from vault 101 as a Tunnel Snake? Read and review. Rating may change.
1. Prologue

**Disclaimer: I don't own Fallout 3**

Prologue-The Vault

"Happy birthday!"

The lights flew on in a flash startling me. I looked around the room and I saw many familiar faces including Amata, her father (the Overseer), Dad, Stanley, Officer Gomez, Old lady Palmer, Andy the robot, and Butch and his friends. Good old Butch. My best friend since the first grade when he stood up for me against Wally Mack when Wally pushed me down. However since then Wally I had become friends too.

"Happy birthday Tom I'm so proud of you!" Dad said.

"Thanks Dad." I replied.

In all honesty my dad was a pretty cool guy. I mean without him the vault couldn't function. He was the doctor and all.

"Congratulations young man as you know when you're ten you're ready to take on official vault responsibilities. So here you are your very own piboy 3000." Said the Overseer with fake enthusiasm.

Now the Overseer hated me, and I mew it. But I hated him so it was mutual relationship. But as he held the pipboy out to me all I could think was: Cool! As I fitted it around my wrist I felt a sharp pain as a needle took a blood sample and then I felt a tightening sensation as it hooked up to my nerves. I dint have time to check out the pipboy's features so I went back to mingling with my guests.

"Happy birthday!" Amata exclaimed. "We really surprised you didn't we?"

"Of course you didn't fool me I knew all along!" I joked.

"You're such a liar." She said. "Alright then if you're so smart then you can guess what I got you for your birthday!"

"Uh… I really have no idea."

"Ha! Well who's your favorite comic book character? That's right Grognak issue number fourteen."

"Whoa thanks Amata!" I said happily. Grogank was really cool. One of the best.

After that I went back to mingling with my guests. I did get some really cool gifts. I got a baseball cap from Stanley, a sweet roll from Old lady Palmer, and a poem for Beatrice. And then disaster stuck.

"Attention everyone!" Andy announced, "It's time to cut the cake!"

To our horror he brought his buzzsaw down onto the cake sending icing and filling in all directions. Truthfully I thought it was kind of funny. I sat down next to Butch.

"Hey man, want half?" I asked tearing the sweet roll in half.

"No thanks." he replied glumly.

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing, I'll tell you later." He said. "Hey we're gonna form a gang wanna join?!" he said as experienced the most rapid mood swing known to man.

"Sure."

"Great now all we need is a name."

"What about the Mackers?" Wally suggested.

"NO WAY!" Butch, Paul and I said in unison.

"It has to be something mysterious like the Tunnelers." Butch said

That was a good day one of my favorite down in that hole. The next few years brought some big changes for the Vault. One of them was that Butch's father was sentenced to prison for abusing his family. I never trusted Robert Deloira. It turned out I was right not to.

********

*nine years later*

"Wake up! Wake up! Come on you've got to get up!"

And wake I did. To the pleasant noise of blaring alarms and my girlfriend screaming.

"Huh… I's jus' havin' a dream 'bout you." I said my words slurred from sleep.

"Knock it off. This is serious. Your dad's gone, mine's gone crazy, there's an infestation of radroaches, and Jonas is dead!"

That snapped me out of it "Wait he's gone and Jonas is dead?" I said. Jonas was my dad's lab assisstant and like an older brother to me. And my dad leaving the vault was astronomical.

"Your dad somehow opened the door. Now my dad thinks you your friends are responsible! They killed Jonas!" she shouted almost hysterical.

"Oh my God!" I exclaimed.

"I have a plan." Amata said a little calmer, "You can't get to the door by the main way, but you can get there through a secret passage in my dad's office. I'll try to meet you there."

"Sounds good I'll get going then."

"Wait, you'll need these bobby pins and this screwdriver. And I stole my father's pistol. I hope you won't need it though."

"Keep the pistol." I said, "I have what I need"

I grabbed my scoped 10 mm (standard issue in the vautlt militia). Unfortunately that was all they allowed me to keep, so in the end I had a standard vault 101 jumpsuit with a tunnel snake jacket, my old BB gun with 50 BB's, about 50 shots for the 10mm, and my baseball bat. With a quick "I love you" to Amata I set off. I had just rounded the corner when an officer stopped me. Now for all the talk of the tunnel snakes I was no killer (yet). I drew the bat.

"Hold it right there!" the officer shouted. "Drop your weapon!"

"Okay calm down." I said, "I'm putting it down."

I slowly lowered it to the floor with the officer yell at me to drop it. To this day I don't know why he didn't just shoot me. But just as I reached ground level I swung the bat up knocking his legs out from under him. He fired and I felt a sharp pain. I then stomped on his head with my heavy vault-tec boot knocking him out cold.

"Never trust a tunnel snake." I growled.

I examined the wound to find that the bullet had just grazed me. I continued along the corridor until I ran into Butch. He had a jumpsuit on with the same 10mm at his side. His usual greasy hair way down and messy. He hadn't had time to oil it. I noticed mine was too.

"Stop." He said, "I know what you're doing and I'm coming with you."

"No way man. You've got family down here."

"Yeah some family. An alcoholic mother and an abusive imprisoned father. Your dad was more family to me than them and I want o help find him." He stated firmly.

"You know we won't be coming back right?" I asked.

"Yeah man. We've been talking about this since we were kids." He said.

"You're with me?" I asked.

"Through it all man." He said.

"Thank you." I said quietly, "Now lets go!"

We took off down the corridors carefully avoiding the officers. We killed many radroaches along the way. We reached the atrium and stopped. Tom and Mary Holden were plotting an escape. They ran down the exit of the vault towards the main exit. We heard gunshots and two thumps on the floor. We stayed in the shadows being as stealthy as we could until we came to the corridor. I poked my head around to see how many there were.

"Two" I mouthed to Butch. He nodded.

Rolling expertly out of cover, Butch and I Each fired a shot both hitting home one was hit in the knee, the other ther shoulder. Either way it gave us enough time to dispatch them with expert precision. We stared at each other. Neither pf us had killed anyone before.

"Later." I said.

"Right" he agreed.

We walked up the stairs until we came to a small chamber which contained security chief Hannon standing over the corpse of a vault dweller I didn't recognize. He turned.

"You!" he said surprised, "You're in a lot of trouble, but wait no. You were my son's only friends. What would he think if I turned you in. Just go. You weren't here."

"Thank you" we said in unison.

We snuck down the hallway but then we heard voices.

"Please Amata, be reasonable officer Mack may enjoy this but I don't. Just tell us where your friend is and we can sort all this out." It was the overseer, and he was interrogating Amata!

"He's my boyfriend. I can't give him up." She pleaded.

"Very well officer Mack." He said.

"No please!" Amata cried.

Mack raised his nightstick, then there was a gunshot. Mack looked down and saw the bloody hole in his chest. I blew the smoke form my gun and ran into the room tackling the overseer in the process.

"You!" _punch_, "Killed!" _smack_, "Jonas!" _crack, _"You!" _crunch_, "Son!" _crunch_, "Of!" _crack_, "A!" _slam_, "Bitch!"

Butch had to pull me off him. The overseer had a broken nose and possible concussion.

"Come on." Butch said, "Let's go."

I nodded and we coninued down corridor. Until we reached the office door. Butch was better at picking locks than me so he handled it. After briefly looking at the overseer's terminal, We learned there was town near the vault called Megaton.

"Why is it called Megaton?" I wondered, "Isn't that used to measure explosives?"

Butch simply shrugged. Anyway we activated the emergencey tunnel and went into the dark corridor. After a stepping on a few radroaches we emerged into the main exit room. I approached the control panel for the door and pushed the lever forward that would open it. Suddenly, someone grabbed my shoulder. I turned around, half expecting more officers to deal with but it was Amata.

"You did it!" she exclaimed, "You really did it!"

"Not without your help." I said, "Give your father my love okay."

"Trust me I'll give him mine too." She said, "Good luck out there both of you." She then burst into tears. I kissed her we stayed that way for what seemed like eternity. There was no fear of what lay before us or death. Just us. Butch pretended not to notice. Then after what felt like forever he did.

"Hey Romeo we've got to go." He said gently.

"Ok" I said. "I love you Amata."

"I love you Tom."

And then we broke apart. Butch and I walked ou of the vault and heard it close behind us. I didn't look back. I couldn't. I could only look forward at what awaited us.

**Author's note: Okay so after some very helpful reviews, I decided to rerelease the story with some changes. Since neither of you seemed to like the G.O.A.T. section I cut it out. I don't blame you, it was very boring to write and quite honestly, I don't think there was much I could do with it to make it better. As for the whole part about Tom not having eyes in the back of his head, I never really thought of it that way but what you said does make sense. And the whole 44 magnum thing. Stupid idea I apologize. I also did not realize that shooting a lock off wouldn't work. Oh well. I hope that this version is a bit better.**


	2. sky,dirt,and mutants

**Disclaimer: I don't own fallout 3**

1-1: sky, dirt, and mutants

The first thing I noticed was the light.

"GAH, FUCK!" I heard Butch shout.

I guessed that he had noticed too. After taking a few minutes to adjust to the newfound light, I looked around and I saw, nothing. Absolutely nothing. Nothing but dirt, rock and burned buildings. And what was more it went on forever. As far as the eye could see. There was no ceiling or hallways. I actually had to restrain myself from freaking out. _How are we going to find dad out here? _Dad. This was his fault. Sure the vault was a little overzealous, but at least I had Amata and some relative safety. I reminded myself that I had waited for this moment since I was fourteen and we started the tunnel snakes.

"What now?" Butch said a bit fearfully.

"I guess we should try to find this Megaton." I suggested.

So we set out. It was hot. I checked my pipboy. It was one hundred and five degrees. I took my jacket off tying it around my waist and motioned for Butch to do the same.

"I killed him." I said suddenly. It just popped out.

"What." Butch said distractedly.

"Mack he's dead I killed him." I repeated.

"Come on Tommy he was gonna kill Amata." Butch said seriously.

"One of our best friend's brothers is dead and I killed him." I said, "He was never nice to us but he wasn't mean either."

"Hey man it was him or you." Butch said gently.

"No it wasn't!" I shouted, "Those officers in the Atrium that was him or me! Not Mack."

"You had to protect her man." He said, "She's your girl."

"I didn't kill the overseer!" I countered, "He's her father and I hate him and I didn't kill him!"

"Hey man I killed too today! Those 'officers in the Atrium' I killed one! You could at give them the respect of calling them by their names!"

"I don't know their names!" I yelled, "Do you?"

"Yeah I…"

"What are their names?"

"I…"

"Huh Butch? What are their names?"

"They were…"

"Answer me!"

"I DON'T KNOW!" he shouted, as he punched me in the nose. I tackled him to the ground and hit him back. He rolled backwards flipping me over and slamming me on the ground. I got my first taste of dirt. I bit into his hand. He screamed. It wasn't the most graceful of fights, (Vault-Tec techniques weren't) but it was our first. It ended with a black eye for each of us a bleeding hand for Butch and a near broken nose for me.

"Listen man…" I started.

"It's alright." He said, "But you've gotta realize that what happened today wasn't our fault. It was no one's."

"That's where you're wrong." I replied, "It's my dad's fault and we've gotta find him and get some answers."

"Okay. But we both killed today. And now that we're out here I'm guessing that it won't be the last time." He said.

"Only if we have to though right?" I asked concerned.

"Only if we have to." He agreed.

"You still with me?"

"You know it."

We walked down the old road in silence. I looked at the old cars. They were skeletons of what they used to be, but I knew from history class that each held a small nuclear device that powered it. Need less to say I stayed away from them. It was getting late. The sun was getting low. I checked my piboy. 5:26. What if we couldn't find Megaton by night? I did not like the thought of being lost in a post-apocalyptic, nuclear wasteland, at night, with God knows what. One look at Butch told me he felt the same way. Then suddenly far ahead on the road I saw a man.

"You see him?" I asked.

"Yeah." Butch replied, "What should we do?"

"Maybe he knows where Megaton is" I suggested.

"Yeah or maybe he's some mutant dog that can walk on its hind legs!" Butch said sarcastically.

"Well it's getting dark and if we stay out here at night who knows what we'll find." I said.

"You might be right, but be ready I don't want to be dinner." Butch said.

We cautiously approached the figure. I noticed he grew larger as I grew closer. I also noticed he was eating something. Butch and I stopped and exchanged glances about fifty feet away from him. I took a deep breath of the fresh (but strangely sickly) air.

"Excuse me!" I called, "Do you know the way to Megaton?!"

The man stood up. But then I noticed this wasn't a man at all. He stood about eight feet tall and was extremely muscular. Almost inhumanly muscular. He had scars all over his body and he had no hair. His face was square and fixed in a permanent sneer. His lips (if he had any) were so shriveled they couldn't cover his teeth. But worst of all his skin was a sickly greenish yellow color. _Keep your cool_ I thought. Then I saw what he was eating. It was a headless human corpse that was covered in blood. That's when I shifted into panic mode.

"PUNY HUMAN!" the monster roared.

"SHIT! RUN BUTCH! RUN!"

Neither of us needed more than that. We hopped the guard rail at the side of the hill. Unfortunately neither of us got the right footing and we fell down the steep slope. It hurt like hell but we both got up, as if we had a choice. We continued running. The ground was uneven and that slowed us down. But looking back it hadn't seemed to hinder the creature at all. He was gaining and was holding what appeared to be a sledgehammer. My heart leapt in my throat and I continued on. With its muscles and that sledgehammer it could do some serious damage. My lungs began to burn. And then I saw a sign that advertised the town of Springvale. It was a dead town now as I saw from the skeletal outline of the buildings, but I made it our goal. I signaled Butch letting him know that the town was our goal. We could try to take it down from the buildings. Then I remembered Mack. _No_ I thought _this thing whatever it is isn't human. _Remembering the corpse I also knew it was evil. I looked toward the town. Just a bit further…

_WHAM!_

The creature's sledgehammer hit me square in the side knocking the wind out of me and flinging me into the wall of one of the buildings. I coughed and my side exploded in fire. I tasted blood. There had to be some broken ribs. I reached for my 10mm to find that the scope had been smashed. It was just a regular 10mm now. I saw the creature approaching me. Where the hell was Butch?! I fired my entire clip into it. It didn't have much of an effect in fact it just seemed to piss it off more. Suddenly I saw Butch running toward us. The creature raised its hammer for the killing blow… And Butch leaped onto the monster's back. In his grasp was a rusty decrepit sawn off shotgun. Aiming at the creature's head he pulled the trigger. A spray of blood and grey matter sprayed on both of us. The creature fell. Butch got up.

"Yeah! Tunnel snakes rule!" he cheered.

"Damn right they do." I wheezed, "Now come help me."

Then I remembered that I hadn't brought any food or water or medicine. Thankfully Butch was smarter than me. He brought fifteen stimpacks, three bottles of water, and 2 packages of dry food, plus some gauze and bandages. First he took off my vault shirt revealing the ugly wound. There was a bruise going down my side with some broken skin in places. He then injected seven stimpacks into my side. Lastly he wrapped it in some bandages and gauze. The stimpacks hurt as they took affect. They accelerate the healing process, but at the price of hurting like a bitch.

"Can you walk?" Butch asked.

"Yeah, just help me up." I rasped, "Where'd you get that." I pointed at the shotgun.

"I found it in some rubble." He explained.

"How many more shots?" I asked.

He shook his head and tossed the practically ruined gun away, "None."

"What do you think it was?" I asked as we walked on.

"Dunno." He replied, "Some kind of mutant?"

By now it was twilight and it was getting cold. It turned out that those science lessons about it getting cold at night in a desert were true. If we didn't find Megaton soon well who knew what would happen. We turned on our pipboy flashlights. They weren't that effective but they worked well enough. Before long we were stumbling around in the dark. Every shadow could have hid something. Every building was a mystery. Just as we had given up hope and were going to lie down for the night, we found a sign that said: Megaton This Way.

"We found it." Butch breathed.

We walked up the hill and saw what appeared to be a lump of metal. We saw a robot guarding the place and a lone sniper. Needless to say we were unimpressed. The walls began to shift revealing an inner gate. I recognized the robot as a protectron. We didn't have any in the vault, but we did learn about them. What I did know was that they were a primitive robot, with limiting speaking, and weak weapons.

"Wel-come to Meg-a-ton." It said in its precise manner, "The bomb is safe. We prom-ise."

We exchanged glances, and then entered. At first glance, all I could think was: not much. It was a rustic little town made out of what appeared to be scrap metal, scrap metal and more scrap metal. Seriously. The walls were made of scrap metal; the homes were made of scrap metal. The only thing that wasn't, was a few of the signs above some shops. But at first glance the town had a kind of homey feel to it. It was dark but there were several spotlights shining over important landmarks such as shops, taverns, and what appeared to be a chapel of some kind. The town was sunk into a crater with the buildings built onto the sides. At the very center, was the most dangerous weapon known to man: a bomb. A nuclear bomb. Some called it the greatest invention in human history. Others knew that someone would only make something that destructive and powerful unless they meant to use it. They were right. In two hours weapons such as these were used to wipe out the world as we knew it. It was replaced by what I had only just discovered: a wasteland. As I thought about what the protectron said I knew this one must be active. I could summarize this in one word.

"Shit."

**Author's note: Thanks Fire Kunai, Shinsou, and donthavoneyet for taking your time to help a first time writer like me better his story. Your reviews have been very helpful and I truly hope you like the story. I hope the changes I made were good and I hope that giving them a scoped 10mm is fair. I know that 44 magnums was a bit stupid, so yeah. I'll keep updating as regularly as I can, but for now see you.**


	3. Raiders

**Disclaimer: I don't own fallout 3**

1-2 Raiders 

"We gotta go!" Butch said, "We can't stay in a place built around a nuclear bomb!"

"As much as I agree with you," I replied, "We can't go now. It's dark and this place is our only lead for my dad."

"We could go back to that town, and stay in one of those houses!" Butch yelled.

"It's alright man." I said as calmly as I could, "These people have built a town around a two-hundred year old bomb and it doesn't look like anything's happened yet. Maybe it's not active."

"Not active?!" Butch shot back, "You heard what that robot said!"

"Whatever." I said, "We won't be any safer in Springvale, so let's just find a place to sleep."

Butch was silent after that. So was I. In truth I was thinking the same thing as Butch. I was scared. I kept telling myself to not worry that these people have lived here for years. But that didn't work. What if we got radiated? I didn't want to end up like that monster. I was deep in thought and wasn't watching where I was going and bumped into someone.

"Watch where you're going." The man said gruffly. He was a tall African American man with a thick grizzled beard, a wrinkled and scarred face, and deep-set eyes that looked like they had seen too much. He was wearing a tattered and patched coat and had dark pants on. A huge cowboy hat sat upon his head, and a metal star that read "Sheriff" on his coat. What really caught my eye was the dangerous looking rifle strapped to his back.

"Sorry." I replied quietly.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa! Get on the ground!" he shouted pulling the gun over his shoulder. I recognized it as a Chinese assault rifle from the vault's computers. Those things packed a punch.

"Hey what'd we do?!" Butch yelled, "We were just lookin' for a place to sleep!"

"Raider scum!" the man spat, "Think you can sneak into my town huh! HUH! Not this time!"

"What the hell's a raider?!" I shouted confused. Why did everyone want to kill us today?

"Don't try to hide it!" he said venomously, "Only raiders have those kind of clothes and are always covered in blood!"

I looked at myself and Butch. It was true that we looked pretty bedraggled. Our clothes were torn and covered in blood from the fall down the hill and the monster's exploding head. We were also covered in dust (you couldn't even see the 101 on Butch's back) and grime.

"Listen." I said cautiously, "We don't want any trouble. This is a misunderstanding. Just let me explain!"

The man thought about it, "You have one minute to give me a good reason why I shouldn't kill you."

"Okay!" I said scrambling to find the right words, "We're from that vault up the hill. We got kicked out today because my dad left it. When we got outside we found this man and were going to ask him directions to this town because we were lost. But he was some kind of monster because he was eight feet tall, extremely muscular, and his skin was green. He chased us down a hill and we fell and must have torn our clothes and gotten a bit dusty. We ran into this ruined town where he almost killed me but my friend here killed it. That's why we're covered in blood. Then we finally found your town!"

The man considered it for a moment and then without warning, turned his rifle around and bashed Butch in the head with it.

"Ow! What the fuck?!" Butch shouted in pain.

I drew the 10mm which the man must not have noticed, "Leave him alone!"

"Prove you're from 101 or I kill him!" the man said.

We had drawn quite a crowd. I heard whispers of everything from "undercover raiders" to "they're trying to detonate the bomb." The latter had confirmed my fears about the bomb.

"Tommy…" Butch said groggily, "Jumpsuit…" He passed out then.

I turned Butch over and dusted off his jumpsuit revealing the "101".

"You see!" I angrily shouted, "101 you son of a bitch!"

That was good enough for the man, "Alright everyone!" he announced, "This was just a misunderstanding! Go home! Go to bed! Go to Moriarty's I don't care!"

"I'm sorry about that." The man apologized, "But let me make it up to you. Your friend mentioned that you needed a place to sleep?"

I didn't trust the man in the slightest right now, "Are you sure you won't try to kill us in our sleep?"

"You can trust me." He said warmly, "You just can't trust anyone in the wasteland."

I thought about it. Then I replied, "Okay but you have to explain to me what the big deal was."

"Deal." He agreed, "Now help me lift your friend."

Together we carried Butch up the hill, to the man's house which was right in front of the gate. We opened the door and lay Butch down on an old dusty couch.

"So," I said, "Are you gonna tell me what that was all about?"

"The name's Lucas Simms by the way."

"Thomas Macarthur." I replied, "His name's Butch Deloira." I pointed to my unconscious friend.

We sat down at his table. He began, "I'm sorry for your friend."

"It's alright." I replied, "Just tell me why."

"Well here goes." Simms started, "Out here in the Capital Wasteland the rule is basically this: survive. You got your radiation, your disease, and your monsters who would love nothing more than to eat you for lunch. You also have your supermutants. I believe you encountered one today actually, based on your description. I'm amazed that you two managed to kill it. So you got all that shit right, and you think 'well if we all work together we can rebuild right?' Wrong. You see kid there are some people out here who live by the rule of survival of the fittest. These people would fall into two categories: raiders and slavers. Raiders take what they want when they want it and there's nothing anyone can do about it. They kill people and eat them. Men, women, children doesn't matter. It's all the same to them. Those they don't eat, they string up above their bases as trophies. Now the slavers are a bit different in the fact that they are more organized, only kill when they have to (mot of them), and they don't eat people (most of them). They however do something far more inhumane: they trade and sell people. It doesn't matter what race or how young, as long as you are strong, healthy and able to work then you're nothing but a pile of caps. They use stun guns to confuse people, and then while they're unable to do anything they put a collar on them. In the collar is C-4 and it can be activated with push of a button by the slaver. It's my job to protect this town from those animals, by any means necessary. And quite frankly, you and your buddy looked like a couple of raiders."

I let what he said sink in. Then I replied, "I think I understand now, but my friend might take a little more explaining. You did bash his skull in."

Simms laughed, "Yeah your right. So what's up with the leather jackets?"

"Oh, we were the leaders of a gang back when we were kids." I answered.

"I see." He said, "You weren't violent were you?"

"No of course not."

"So what's the full story?" he asked referring to my brief explanation at gunpoint.

I told him the full story with all the details.

"So have you seen anyone come up here that fits my dad's description?" I asked.

"Why yes I have." He said, "Didn't stay long though. He went to Moriarty's to get some information and then left."

"Well," I replied, "It looks like Butch and I are going to pay a visit to Moriarty's tomorrow."

"Just watch yourself." He warned, "You can't trust anyone in there except Gob and Nova."

"Got it," I replied, "So the bomb is it active?"

"Yep, been tryin' to get someone to disarm that thing for awhile now. You think you got the know how to disarm it?"

"Maybe," I replied, "I was part of the vault militia, and one of the things they taught us was how to disarm bombs. I always thought it was stupid, but now maybe I can put it to the test."

"Just don't go fiddling with it if you don't think you can handle it." Simms said seriously.

"Okay," I said. I glanced at my piboy, it was late, "I think I'll turn in." I yawned.

"Sounds good," he replied, "You can sleep in my boy's bed. He'll sleep with me."

Simms led me up the stairs. He picked up his son and after a brief "good night" left me alone. I lay down on the bed. It had been a long day. I closed my eyes and drifted off to sleep.

**Author's note: I apologize that this chapter is shorter than the other two, it has been a very hectic weekend, and I haven't had time to write. Other than that though thanks for the reviews, and I hope you liked this chapter, because I enjoyed writing it. See you!**


	4. Nightmares and Choices

**Disclaimer: I don't own Fallout 3**

1-3 Nightmares and Choices

_I walked down the vault's dark corridor in anticipation of what I might find at the end. I looked in a window on my way down the hall to find that I was a ten year old again. I reached the end of the hallway to find one of the vault's many blast doors. I stared at it in hesitation, for I could not explain it but there was something foreboding about this room. Finally I opened the door. It was dimly lit in the room and all I saw was a solitary figure crouched on the floor crying. _

_ "Excuse me," I said, "Are you okay?"_

_ The figure turned. To my horror it was Steven Mack. _

_ "You!" he sobbed, "This is your fault! Why did you do this to me?!"_

_ "I'm sorry!" I cried, "I didn't mean to!"_

_ From out of the shadows of the room stepped the two officers in the atrium followed by everyone I had met in my life. Dad, Butch, Wally, Paul, Amata, Jonas, all were there. _

_ "Come with us." They said in unison, "We have so much to talk about."_

_ "No!" I cried, terrified, "I won't go! This isn't real!"_

_ Sobbing tears of fear, I opened the door to find that there was just blank wall behind it._

_ "Please!" I pleaded, "I just want to go home!"_

_ "I'll take you home son." Said my father, "You can trust me."_

_ "Trust your father." They said again in unison._

_ "Take my hand son."_

_ "Stop!" I cried, "Just stop! None of this is real!"_

_ "I just want to protect you." My father said calmly._

_ "I don't need protection from you!" I sobbed, "You left me alone! Why should I trust you now?!"_

_ "Because I came back." Said Dad._

_ He held out his hand. Then I saw kindness in his face. I was overjoyed, so I took his hand. Almost immediately his grip tightened, so much it hurt. His fingernails became claws and when I looked at his face, I saw to my horror that it was melting and falling apart. His skin became burnt and his teeth became fangs. His voice was a horrible rasping noise. _

_ "I love you son." The demon said._

_ His grip had started to draw blood. I cried out, "Please stop, you're hurting me!"_

_ "Don't worry we'll take care of you." The demons said. They had undergone the same transformation._

_ "No!" I cried as they advanced. I noticed something wet dripped from the ceiling to my horror it was blood._

_ "Don't worry," they repeated, "We'll take care of you."_

_ I screamed in pain and horror as they clawed into my flesh._

_*************_

I awoke in a cold sweat. I was breathing hard. I realized it had only been a dream but it had been so vivid so real. Then I had a horrible thought. What if it wasn't a dream, what if it was a vision, of events yet to come. What if when my time of judgment came upon my death I was sentenced to that? What if that was my punishment for killing those people? Dad had always taught me about God, and I listened to his lessons, and believed them. I never spent as much time thinking about it as I should have. I thought of the frightening lessons about Hell and the devil that I had learned of and I worried if it was to be my fate when my time came. I shuddered at the thought. Glancing at my pipboy I saw that it was close to 9:30. I would have to confide this in someone later. For now I wanted some breakfast. I got up, and walked down the stairs. There I saw Simms's son frying something over the stove.

"Good morning." I said distractedly. I was still disturbed by the dream.

"Hi!" the boy said cheerfully, "My dad's out on patrol, but he said I should make you guys breakfast before I went and played."

"Thanks." I said. I hadn't eaten all day yesterday, so I was starving!

"Your friend's still sleeping." The boy continued, "You should wake him up."

So walking over to Butch's bed, I shook him awake. He responded appropriately, "Son of a bitch! My head!"

"Come on." I told him, "Breakfast is on the table."

Walking over we sat down. There were plates laid out that looked like they had seen better days.

"Where are the forks?" I asked.

"What's a fork?" the kid replied, "Here's an omelet."

I glanced at the omelet warily. It was grayish yellow, and it had a few odd looking lumps in it. But I was hungry so I took a bite. Surprisingly, it didn't taste that bad. Then I noticed a burning sensation. Not the kind of spicy food burn, but the burn where you go to see a doctor.

"What the hell's wrong with this omelet?!" I coughed.

The boy (I still didn't know his name) looked hurt, "It's just radiation."

"You fed us irradiated food?!" Butch shouted, "Your dad sees hitting me doesn't work, so he tries to poison us."

"What? No radiation is in everything out here. No one likes it, it's just the way it is." He explained.

I had managed to choke the eggs down, "Are you sure it's safe?"

"Yeah, just go to the doctor's every once and awhile." The kid assured me.

We ate in silence for awhile. Butch and I shared some of the vault's purified water with the boy. He enjoyed that very much. I think that water was the only reason I was able to keep those eggs down.

"So what's your name?" I asked the kid.

"Harden." He replied, "What about you?"

"My name's Thomas Macarthur." I said, "You can call me Tommy."

"Hi Tommy!" he said excitedly, "What's your name?"

"I'm Butch!" Butch replied, "Butch Deloira!"

"Howdy Butch!" Harden squeaked.

The breakfast continued with us telling stories to Harden about the vault, and he told us stories about Megaton. Many laughs were had. Looking back now it was one of my fondest memories, of my time spent out here. That kid couldn't have been older than ten, but he was so mature. It was sad really. This wasteland had deprived him of his childhood. Who knows what horrors his eyes had already witnessed? After breakfast Butch and I prepared to head out.

"Where are you going?" Harden asked.

"Moriarty's saloon," I replied.

"Be careful," he warned, "My dad doesn't let me go in there. He says its too dangerous."

"Don't worry about us kid." Butch said, "We can handle ourselves."

"Come back and visit me sometime!" Harden said cheerfully.

"Of course!" I replied, "But bye for now."

We started to walk away, and I took the time to fill Butch in on the details of my conversation with Simms's.

"What, so first the guy threatens to kill us, and now he wants us to disarm a live atomic weapon?!" Butch said angrily.

"Calm down." I replied, "You heard what he had to say about raiders. He was just doing his job."

"Yeah, but he didn't have to hold us at gunpoint." He replied darkly.

"Do you ever think that maybe you have to let bygones be bygones sometimes?" I said a little meaner than I intended.

"Do you ever think that you're a little to forgiving of people?" Butch shot back, "I mean it's gonna come back and hurt you one dat."

"Look I'm not gonna turn into some smug egotistical bastard who can't let a grudge go, and is convinced their right!"

"You don't have to be!" Butch exclaimed, "All I'm saying is to be careful out here, because I don't trust these people."

Sighing I walked on. I knew he was right. I was to forgiving of people, and I was too quick to trust someone. But it was in my nature. I just wasn't too angry of a guy. Yesterday was a tough day, and it was the first time I've ever felt true hatred.

"So how exactly do you plan to disarm a bomb?" Butch asked.

"I guess I'll use the training they gave us back in the vault." I replied.

"Are you sure about this? 'Cause I don't wanna get vaporized." He asked concerned.

"I don't know what I'm sure of anymore." I briefly explained my dream to him.

"Don't worry man." He said reassuringly, "It was just a bad dream."

"I guess." I said. Still I couldn't shake the foreboding feeling of the dream. I stopped as I saw we had reached the saloon.

"Watch yourself in here." I said. Butch nodded. I opened the door and stepped into the dim light of the saloon. Immediately I was hit with the smell of vomit, urine, and alcohol. The people inside briefly looked up at us but uninterested they went back to their activities. I noticed a scantily dressed woman in the corner and I saw Butch eyeing her. She blew him a kiss.

"Come on." I said rolling my eyes.

We sat down at the bar.

"What'll it be?" said a raspy gruff voice.

I looked up and saw what could best be described as a zombie.

"What the fuck happened to you?" Butch and I asked in unison. It was a bit odd.

"Nice to meet you too." Said the zombie, man, whatever it was, "Aint you ever seen a ghoul before?"

"Sorry I can't say we have." I replied, "We grew up in the vault. This is our second day out here."

"Well ghouls are just people who absorbed too much radiation and didn't die. The name's Gob. Let me welcome you to the goddamn Capital wasteland." The ghoul replied.

"I'm Butch and this is Tommy." Butch spoke for both of us, "Sorry for before, it's been a long two days."

"It's alright smoothskin." Gob replied, "At least you have an excuse. Most of these assholes just insult me for the hell of it."

"So what's a smoothskin?" I asked.

"Just a name for guys like you." He replied, "Can I get you guys something?"

"Sure." I said handing him a twenty, "Keep the change."

"Uh smoothskin…" Gob chuckled, "You need to give me some bottlecaps first."

"Why would you want bottlecaps?" Butch asked confused.

"Well it's our money. This stuff's only good for toilet paper now." Gob laughed.

"Oh… well in that case we'll have nothing. But you can give us some information." Butch said a bit embarrassed.

"What might that be?"

"Well you see, the whole reason we left the vault was to find my dad." I said, "Maybe you've seen him he's looks a lot like me, except he's got grayish hair and a beard, and he looks like he's in his fifties."

"Look kid I'd like to help you. You seem nice enough. But Mr. Moriarty would have my head." Gob said sadly.

"Well then I may just have to have a talk with this guy." I said cockily.

"Just be careful." Gob warned, "He's a sly one. You can wait in the bar until he comes out of his office."

We thanked Gob and sat down at a table. Butch continued to eye the girl in the corner.

"Go talk to her." I said.

"Yeah right." He replied, "She's out of my league."

"No way man," I assured, "Just talk to her."

"Well all right." He said, "Wish me luck."

He got up and left. I sat there for awhile. Then I noticed a man in a business suit waving me over.

"Can I help you?" I asked him.

"Ah yes I believe you can." He replied, "In fact I believe that with a little work we can help each other."

"What are you talking about?"

"My employer is a very wealthy and powerful man who gets what he wants." The man, "My name is Mr. Burke. I am his voice so to speak. And I have an offer for you."

"I'm listening." I said. In a game of words this guy was toying with me.

"This Megaton is blight as my employer believes." Burke said, "In the center of the town lays a prime opportunity to remove."

My heart skipped a beat as I realized what he was talking about.

He handed me a small device, "This is a fusion pulse charge. I think you know what to do with it. I beg you to consider my offer. For the rewards could be great in the end."

"Okay Burke," I said, "You've got yourself a deal."

"Very good, I will be waiting for your update on the matter."

Walking over to Butch who was back at the table I told him we had to go. We stepped into the sunlight.

"What's the matter man? You look like you saw a ghost." Butch asked worried.

"That guy in the suit in there," I started, "He wants to destroy the bomb!"

"What?!" Butch said terrified, "Are you sure?"

"Positive." I replied, "Come on we've got to find Simms now."

Butch didn't need telling twice. We walked along the catwalk asking people if they had seen Simms. The answer was the same always: no. We were headed back to Simms's house when I saw something in the alleyway. It was a body and it was covered in blood. Butch and I turned it over and gasped in terror.

It was Simms.

He was dead.

**Author's note: Sorry for how long this took to come out. I've had a lot of homework. Tell what you think of the dream part. Did you like it or was it the stupidest thing ever? I know this looks like it is going to be basically a narration of the mainquest right now, but don't worry I've got some big twists planned that I think you'll like. As always read and review. Thanks!**


	5. Law Enforcement

**Disclaimer: I don't own fallout 3**

1-4 Law Enforcement

"Dude… is that?"

I nodded. Simms was dead what would we do now?

"First thing, we can't leave his body here." Butch said quietly.

"Where can we put him?" I asked.

"I guess to his house." Butch suggested.

"What if Harden is there?"

"Then we'll tell him what happened."

Together between us we brought Simms around to the back of his house so that no one would see. Thankfully Harden wasn't there. We laid the sheriff in his room. I closed his eyes. We hadn't known him for long, but this man had shown us quite a bit of kindness. Even Butch saw that, and the only time he had known the man, was the night previous when he apprehended us for the sake of his town.

"So now what do we do?" Butch asked.

I swallowed up my sorrow for the time being. "We should disarm the bomb first. That way Burke can't blow us to hell."

"Who's Burke? The guy in the suit?" Butch wondered.

"Yeah," I replied.

"Are you sure about the bomb?"

"No."

"Well it's your call." Butch assured.

I nodded. "Before we go, I have to take care of something." Taking out the fusion pulse charge, I threw it to the ground and smashed it with my heavy vault-tec boot.

"What was that?" Butch asked.

"The detonator," I replied simply.

We made our way into the crater and stopped in front of the bomb. There was a man preaching in front of it. I stepped into the water and approached the bomb. Immediately I felt a burn. I knew it must have been radiation. I recalled the lessons of the vault militia and carefully proceeded in disarming the bomb. In all it took almost a half hour. It was one of the scariest moments of my life. Knowing if I turned off the wrong switch, or cut the wrong wire everything would be gone. But in the end everything was fine, and as I walked out of the pool, I heard whispers of "Is it safe, did he disarm it?" As soon as I got out of the water I threw up. I checked my pipboy. 233 rads. I would have to worry about it later.

"Are you all right?" asked Butch as he helped me up. I nodded.

"Is it disarmed?" he asked.

"Yeah," I said quietly. A cheer went up from the crowd. The only person who was angry was the man who was preaching before.

"Blasphemer!" he shouted, "You'll pay for your sins!" Then he stormed away.

"We made a new friend." I grinned.

"So now what form an angry mob and kill Burke?" Butch asked.

"That's not a bad idea," I replied, "Everyone! The man named Burke threatened to destroy this town! I need volunteers to help us bring him down!"

Murmurs of anger and discontent floated about the crowd. In the end only one person stepped forward. He was tall and old and had the same gun as Simms strapped to his back. His head was shaved and he was wearing some kind of leather suit.

"Who are you?" I asked.

"The name's Jericho, ex-raider extraordinaire." The man said, "I don't take orders from snot nosed little punks like yourself. But I gotta protect this town, so I'll help."

"Thanks." Butch said.

Together we walked up to Moriarty's saloon. _Can you do it. Can you kill him if it comes to it? _

"Alright get ready. He's not gonna go down easy." I warned.

"Simms told me I can do whatever it takes to bring someone in emergencies." Jericho informed us, "I think this qualifies."

We stepped through the doors. No one seemed to notice three armed individuals step through the door. Maybe this happened often.

"Mr. Burke I am pleased to inform you that you are under arrest for conspiracy against our town." Jericho announced.

"Oh and where is the good sheriff. I am sure he will want part in this decision." Burke replied calmly.

"You made sure he wouldn't be here you son of a bitch." I said venomously.

"Ah, the vault dweller, I had such high hopes for you." Burke said dangerously. He glared daggers at me.

"I am authorized to take you down by any means necessary." Jericho threatened.

"Do you really think I am afraid of you three?" Burke mocked, "Two vault dwellers who have been out here for a day and a retired raider who probably hasn't fired a shot in fifteen years."

"Shut up!" Butch shouted.

"Let me explain this to you three very slowly." Said Burke, "You are going to let me get up and leave this town or I will kill everyone in this room."

"Do you really think you can take on all of us?" Butch said mockingly.

"No my dear boy, the real question here is whether or not you think you can handle me."

There was a small click. Jericho made a grunting noise. I turned to look at him and saw he was dead, a bullet hole between the eyes. I turned back to Burke who was no longer there. Where did he go?

_Click._

I felt a sharp pain in my shoulder. I grunted and grabbed at the wound. I saw a hazy figure getting up from the armchair and it occurred to me that Burke was using a stealthboy which was a small device that made you temporarily camouflaged to your environment. I mouthed it to Butch. He nodded and tackled the figure temporarily distorting the illusion. Now Butch was trained by the vault militia but Burke took him apart. He flipped him onto his back and elbowed him in the nose sending a shower of blood forward. Butch screamed, it was most likely broken. Burke held Butch down with his foot and drew his own gun.

"NO!" I shouted, and shot the gun out of Burke's hand. The stealthboy had worn off and I could see him. I tackled him and before he could react punched him in the face repeatedly drawing blood and breaking glasses. I pulled my gun out, cocked it, and hesitated. Burke knew it. And he knew he could best me in a fight at that point. But instead he wanted to test me being the sick bastard he was.

"Pull the trigger. Kill me. I know you want to." Burke commanded.

"I won't." I shot back, "We'll banish you to the wastes, but you won't die."

"And why not?" Burke asked, "I deserve it. I'm a cutthroat murderer. I threatened to bomb the town for Christ's sake."

"Because I'm not like you!" I shouted, "I'm not a murderer!

"That's too bad." Burke started.

_BANG! BANG!_

"I am." He finished.

He pushed me off of him lowering the thirty-two pistol he had been concealing. He got up blowing the smoke from his gun. I could do nothing except slump against the counter and wait for death to come.

"I am going to let the rest of this place off with a warning. But I will kill any of you that try to stop me." Burke said. He leaned in close, "Don't think you've seen the last of me. Today was the biggest mistake of your life. Thanks to your ghoul friend I know your names. And when a man like me knows your names it is only a matter of time. You jeopardized my entire operation here. I should kill you now, but that would be too easy. Let this be a warning to watch your back." With that he strode out.

I examined my wounds. A bullet wound in the shoulder and to more in the abdomen. It was already feeling cold. I thought of my dream. Would I experience that as a reality soon? But it was not to be on that day. In the dim light of the saloon I saw several of the settlers come out of hiding. Gob came out from behind the counter.

"Tommy!" he said concerned, "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. Now he knows your name and he's gonna kill you!"

"It's alright Gob." I wheezed, "Just help me and Butch."

"Of course," he replied.

Butch was out like a light. But he was going to be fine. I was the main concern. I had taken two bullets in the abdomen and one in the shoulder. I was so cold. They began to carry me down to a doctor. I was dizzy. I was so tired and I wanted to sleep. But they said I couldn't. They laid me on a bed. It was so soft. And warm. I saw faces. From the past: Butch, Amata, and Dad. Faces I had just met: Burke, Simms, and Harden. And some I didn't recognize: A man with a calm face and brown trench coat, a bedraggled looking man that had an eyepatch and tattered clothes, and a ghoul tall and strong killing enemies and saving lives. I smiled as my vision darkened. It was nice here. We were safe here.

**Author's note: Thanks for all the reviews! Tell me what you think of this chapter. I really like how it turned out. Don't worry because we haven't seen the last of Burke. I recently came up with the idea to rotate viewpoints between Tommy and Butch. This is so I can show the story from a different perspective. Don't worry though I will say at the beginning of each chapter who is speaking. Also I'm sorry about this but the next chapter won't be out until Sunday at the earliest (I'm going camping). Sorry. **


	6. The Blues

**Disclaimer: I don't own fallout 3**

1-5 The Blues

**Butch's point of view**

"Another."

"You're gonna kill yourself."

"I know my limits."

"Well you're wasting all your reward."

"Just give me another."

Shrugging, Gob poured me another glass. I was fine. I've been drinking since I was fifteen and I'm proud of it. Like mother like son. We did it for the same reasons too. It's a coping mechanism. For me it was a way to drown my guilt. My best friend was in a coma because he saved my life and three people were dead. Simms was a good guy from what I'd heard. Jericho seemed like he cared about the town. Stockholm, the sniper, tried to kill Burke but failed. Now Burke was running abroad out there, and he had a bone to pick with us. I downed another shot of whiskey.

"So what are you doing here?" Gob asked.

"Where else am I gonna go?" I answered.

"You could be by your friend's side, or Simms's kid."

"Right, like that kid wants anything to do with me." I snorted. Harden was a wreck. He had no one to take him in. When I had gone to see him, Harden had wordlessly handed me five-hundred caps and the deed to a house. At least the robot could cut my hair tunnel snake style, but that didn't last long.

"Well what about Tommy?" Gob asked.

"Yeah, what about him." I replied. Tommy was in stable condition but was showing no signs of coming out of the coma. I poured myself another shot.

"Well he's your best friend." Gob reasoned, "And he saved your life."

"We're more than best friends man." I explained. "Tommy's just about the only family I got."

"What do you mean?"

"When I was a kid, my daddy used to beat me." I said remembering, "He got put away for that, but my mom was an alcoholic so I was on my own."

"That's rough man." Gob sympathized.

"Yeah, I think the only reason I didn't off myself was Tommy." I sighed, "He was there for me and listened to me. He was pretty much my brother."

"I can't say I know what that feels like." Gob said.

"Sorry man." I said, "It's just, if Tommy died now it'd be my fault. He distracted Burke from me. So help me God that Burke better watch his back, because when you mess with the tunnel snakes you get the fangs!"

"Tunnel snakes?"

"It was just the name for our gang back when we were kids." I explained. That felt like a million years ago.

"That explains the leather jackets then." Gob realized. I nodded. We sat in silence for awhile just listening to the songs through the static of the radio. I had found out that my pipboy had a feature for radio and I had started to listen. The DJ talked a good talk and I believed some of it. Three Dog was his name. Then I heard him broadcast on terrorist attacks in Megaton, and that just made me more depressed. He had hailed Tommy and me as heroes. _I'm no hero. I just need saved all the time._ Three Dog also needed some new music. Nova, the girl I had met the day Burke went ballistic, came over to the bar and sat down next to me.

"Want to reconsider my offer honey?" she asked. Yeah, I had been hitting on a prostitute.

"No thanks." I said as politely as I could. I had learned enough about STD's in the vault to know that when it came to someone like Nova I should stay away. She seemed nice enough though.

"Suit yourself." She said, "I'm on break anyways. Get me a beer please Gobbie honey."

"Sure thing," Gob said handing her one. "This one's free, just don't let Moriarty know." It was obvious that Gob had a thing for Nova regardless of STD's. Hell, his skin was probably so rotten it wouldn't affect him.

"So what's the news on vaultie number two?" Nova asked.

"Same," I replied. Nova nodded.

"So how come you haven't asked Moriarty about the kid's dad?" Gob asked.

"I think Tommy is the one who has the right to do it." I answered.

"Yeah I guess that makes sense." Gob replied. Nova walked back to her corner with Gob staring at her all the way.

"You checkin her out?" I asked.

"No… no… I." If Gob had cheeks they would have been red.

"Come on man you can tell me." I pried.

"Alright so what if I am. It's not as if I have a shot at her anyways."

"Don't be like that." I said.

"Well it's true." He said, "I'm ugly as sin and she's, she's…"

"Yeah I know what you mean." I answered, "Back in the vault there was this girl I was always after. Her name was Amata. I was always an ass to her so she ended up with Tommy."

"That's rough." Gob said.

"Yeah…" I agreed, "Tommy's been through a lot though in the last week. His dad abandoned him, he'll probably never see his girl again, he's emotionally disturbed by the fact he's killed people, and he's in a coma!"

"That is a lot." Gob agreed.

"Not me though all I'm good for is getting saved."

"You saved your friend from a super mutant." Gob said, "Unless you were lying you jumped on its back and blasted its head off with a shotgun. That took balls man."

"I guess." I snorted, "But I just want to help people, to make a difference. But that's Tommy's job I guess."

"Anyone can make a difference if they really want to kid." Gob said quietly, "And no offence but getting piss drunk in a bar isn't exactly making a difference."

"Yeah I guess you're right, but what can I do right now."

"Well you and your friend disarmed the bomb and saved the town from a terrorist so that's something to be proud of." Gob said. I felt a little better.

"Thanks Gob." I said, "You're a good friend."

"It's been awhile since anyone called me that kid." Gob said, "So thank you."

I checked my pipboy and saw the time. It was getting late.

"I'm gonna head home." I said, "I'll see you tomorrow Gob."

"See you kid." Gob replied.

I walked outside out into the cool evening air. Sure this place was an oven during the day, but at night it was freezing. I walked along the many scrap metal bridges to my new home. It was right above the local restaurant, The Brass Lantern. As I was walking I saw something strange. There was something strange. Someone was standing on one of the guardrails. It was a long way to the ground. It was most likely a fatal fall. Then I saw to my horror that it was Harden.

"Harden man!" I called out casually, "What are you doing up there?!"

"What does it look like Butch?" he said sullenly, "I'm gonna jump."

"Why are you gonna do that?" I asked calmly in the way that Tommy had done for me.

"What else am I gonna do?!" Harden sobbed, "I got nothing!"

"Believe me Harden I know what this feels like." I said understandingly, "But you don't have to do this! We can get through this together!"

"No we can't!" He shouted, "You let him die!"

"Harden I swear I didn't!" I yelled taking a hesitant step forward.

"Don't come any closer!" He shouted.

"Please Harden come down!" I called, "Let me talk to you!"

"Why would anyone talk to me?!" He screamed, "No one cares about me! They just left me alone in a house! I'm only eleven!"

"Harden you're wrong!" I shouted, "People do care about you!"

"Who does?!" He sobbed.

"I do!" I yelled, "Tommy does! We both do! You're a good friend and now that your dad is gone, you're our responsibility! So get your ass off that railing!"

I held out my hand. Harden didn't take it.

"Why should I believe you?" He said a bit calmer.

"You'll just have to trust me." I reasoned. I held out my hand again. This time Harden hesitantly took it.

"Thank you Butch." He said quietly, "You're a good friend." He repeated my exact words to Gob.

"Don't mention it kid." I replied. Holding him close, I walked towards the house I now owned. I opened the door and said hello to Wadsworth the robot butler. I directed Harden toward the bed where he fell asleep almost immediately. I sat for awhile reading one of the few legible books I could find in the place. I thought about Harden. I swore that I would protect him no matter what the cost. I owed him that much. I smiled after I remembered what Gob had said about anyone making a difference. Maybe he was right.

**Author's note: Sorry for long this took. My computer was acting up. But I hoped you enjoyed this chapter. Sorry if I described Butch in the third person Force of habit. See you!**


	7. Information gathering

**Disclaimer: I don't own fallout 3**

1-6 Information gathering

**Tommy's point of view**

When I first awoke all I noticed was that I was thirstier than I had ever been before. When I tried to sit up I noticed the pain. I almost threw up. I sat up again, but slower. I examined myself. My torso was heavily bandaged as was my shoulder. My skin was noticeably paler than it had been before. With as much strength as I could muster, I tried to get out of the bed. I was embarrassed to see that I was only in my shorts. Before getting up I examined my surroundings. The room was made of what appeared to be scrap metal, and was dimly lit. I remembered Burke then and felt a surge of anger run through. _I'll get you, you bastard. _Hesitantly I stood up. Surprisingly I didn't fall over. I saw my gear lying on a table in the corner. I stumbled over to it. I began to pull on my jumpsuit, which I noticed was torn and frayed in several places. As I was zipping it , a thin African American man came through the front door.

"Holy shit!" he exclaimed, "You're awake!"

"Yeah…" I whispered hoarsely, "Got any water?"

"Of course!" the man said cheerfully. He led me over to his sink, where the faucet spewed some dirty brown water for me to drink. After staring hesitantly at it for a minute I figured what the hell, bottoms up. Surprisingly, the burn was only minimal this time.

"How long was I out?" I asked.

"Today's the seventh so three weeks right on the dot!" he answered, "Once I had done all I could it was up to you. You took long enough. The name's Church by the way."

"You saved me?" I confirmed, "Thanks man. I owe you one."

"You owe me a lot more than just one I'm afraid, I'd say it that between medical supplies and a bed it comes down to about seven-hundred-fifty caps."

"Shit." I said, "I don't have any money."

"Oh I wouldn't worry about that Tommy my boy, yes I have heard your name, your friend has been doing the odd job here and there for the town. Between that and your reward money for the bomb and that Burke bastard you guys should be alright."

"Butch hasn't worked a day in his life!" I lauhed, "What kinds of jobs has he been up to."

"Oh you two have been a real asset to this town." He replied, "Mostly he's just working on the water purifier and scouring Springvale for food, medicine, and booze for Moriarty. He's even taking care Simms's boy Harden."

At that I was surprised. Butch was serious about whatever it was he was doing.

"Well can I go get him so we can pay you?" I asked.

"Go ahead, I got other patients anyway." He said, "But just be careful. You're technically not even supposed to be up right now. In fact let me give you some med-ex to dull the pain."

"Where would Butch be at right now?" I asked as he injected the painkiller into my arm.

"I can't say for sure, but you might try your new house. Its right above the Brass Lantern you can't miss it. He might also be at Moriarty's."

I thanked Church, slipped on my gun and jacket, and headed out. The sun was beating down especially hard today and I got more than few thanks as I walked toward what I thought to be my house. One woman even gave me a stimpack. After passing the Brass Lantern I began to walk up the stairs. They were the same stairs that I had walked up when I had first entered the town. I stopped at what best fit Church's description of my house. Like everything else in this town it was made out of scrap metal and had a box like shape to it. Still it was better than nothing. Gripping the doorknob I turned it and opened the door. It was dim inside compared to outside. I saw a stand for collecting something or other, a few lockers, a makeshift pantry kitchen, and a set of stairs that led to the second floor. A table sat in the middle of the main room with three dilapidated looking chairs. I heard a radio playing an old prewar song.

"Hello!" I called, "Is anyone home?"

Suddenly, a pre-war Mr. Handy model robot came hovering down the stairs. It brandished its buzzsaw. It wasn't built for battle, but I knew that it had a flame thrower to defend itself with and that saw looked dangerous.

"How dare you intrude upon this fine establishment you Goddamn street rat!" It shouted at me in its signature British accent, "Master there is an intruder! Shall I take care of him for you?"

"No it's alright Wadsworth; let me see who it is first." Said a voice I had known my entire life. Down the stairs walked Butch. He still had that happy-go-lucky glint in his eye, but he looked different. His hair covered his ears and was highlighted in places by the sun and was very unkempt and messy. His face had some easily noticeable beard stubble. His skin was no longer pale but a dark tanned color. Then I noticed that aside from my skin still being pale we looked very similar. I guessed that it was due to us sporting the same tunnel snake look in the vault.

"Hey Butch." I said quietly.

"Tom?" he wondered, "Wadsworth stand down."

"As you wish master," Wadsworth said as he went back up the stairs. Butch and I just stared at each other. Then he tackled me to the ground.

"Ow! What the hell?!" I cried. I was still in a lot of pain.

"What we used to do this when we were kids." He said in a mock hurt tone as he got me in a headlock. I elbowed him in the stomach.

"Never could play fair could you." He wheezed. Then he practically hugged me, which was big for Butch because he was not a very emotional guy.

"Alright it's good to see you too!" I laughed shrugging him off.

"Shit man." He said excitedly, "I thought you weren't gonna wake up. Church really did a number on you though."

"Yeah we owe him seven-hundred-fifty caps." I said.

"Yikes that's a lot." Butch sighed.

"Well you can pay it right?" I said nervously, "The Doc said you'd been doing some work and had earned quite a bit."

"I can pay it yeah." Butch said, "But it cuts our savings in just about half. And we'll probably blow the rest on weapons and food."

"Weapons and food, for what?" I asked.

"Well we're going after your dad right?" Butch replied. Dad. I had completely forgotten about him in all the excitement with Burke. I knew that Butch was right.

"Well how are we gonna find him?" I wondered.

"That Moriarty guy knows where he is remember." Butch reminded me.

"You didn't ask him yet?" I questioned.

"I figured it was your right to." Butch said. I supposed he was right.

"Well then what are we waiting for?" I asked, "By the way Church mentioned that you're taking care of Harden? What are we gonna do with him when we leave?"

"I guess we could leave him with this old couple I met." Butch replied, "Their names are Nathan and Manya. They seem nice enough."

"Okay." I replied. With that we headed out to Moriarty's. The town seemed a lot quieter than when we first got there. I noticed that no one was preaching by the bomb.

"What happened to that bomb worshipper?" I asked.

"Well he basically packed up, took his flock, and left." Butch said, "I don't know where he went, but before he did, he called us heathens and said we'd pay for our sins."

"Ooooo scary." I said sarcastically.

"No man. Everyone kept saying that they have followers everywhere and that we have to watch our backs."

"Well that's just great!" I said angrily, "We've been out here less than a month and we've already made enemies with a religious cult, and what looks to be one of the most dangerous and powerful men left in the world!"

"We'll be alright we always are." Butch assured.

I nodded uncertainly. We had reached the saloon. I noticed a tall man with long gray hair and a mean face was standing in the corner. I hadn't seen him before.

"Excuse me." I said confidently, "Are you mister Moriarty?"

"That I am kid." He replied in an Irish accent, "And what can I do for ye today. Booze? Or maybe something else." He said glancing at Nova.

"Neither thanks." Butch interjected, "We need some information."

"Information ye say?" he replied slyly, "Well I got all you need for a price."

"Come on man we saved your saloon." I pleaded.

"I don't give a fuck kid." He said matter-of-factly, "Everything has a price tag in the world. If you don't like you can go crawl back to your vault."

I started to take a step forward in anger, but Butch took my shoulder telling me it wasn't worth it.

"How much?" Butch asked.

"Depends on the information vaultie." He replied.

"I'm looking for my dad." I seethed.

"Description please?" Moriarty laughed.

"He's my height, looks like me, has clean cut gray hair, and a beard." I explained.

"Hmmm. Tell you what kid, since you did save this place I'll let ye have a discount. Fifty caps." Moriarty said.

I supposed that wasn't too bad. Butch handed over the money.

"There ye go. Not so bad was it. Your dad passed through here about three weeks ago. He was asking me about what was going on in the world. I told him that I couldn't tell him but I directed him to someone who could. You know that DJ Three Dog? He runs that radio station GNR. Well if you want to know the state of the world that's the place to go. After I told him that he just took off. Didn't even ask where it is."

"Do you know where it is?" Butch asked.

"Well I do." He said, "Let me see those wrist computers of yours. I'm not to savvy with computers, but its easy enough to mark a location."

"Thanks." I replied.

"One more thing, you're gonna have to go through the old subways to get into D.C. Careful though. There are some ghouls down there."

"I thought ghouls were friendly." Butch said confused.

"Well most are," Moriarty explained, "But there are some who generally stick to the subways that have gone completely brain-dead. Those me boys are pretty much zombies. Try to avoid them. Oh and it gets a bit spooky in those tunnels so bring a nightlight."

We thanked Moriarty and headed out to prepare for the journey. I guess that Moriarty was pretty fair. He had given us a lot of information for not to much money. And it was useful information too. _You'd better have one hell of an explanation Dad, because I'm coming._

**Author's note: Sorry for the crappy updating lately. We'll leave Megaton soon.**


	8. Quail

**Disclaimer: I don't own fallout 3**

1-7 Quail

**Butch's point of view**

"Is this it?"

"I don't see any other subways."

"Dude I don't know about this."

"Come on Butch Moriarty said we have to take the tunnels."

"Yeah and he also said there's a bunch of mindless zombie ghouls down there!"

Tommy and I stood at the entrance of Farraugut West Metro wondering if it was a good idea. On one hand we had to get into the city to reach GNR and talk to Three Dog. On the other hand we were a couple of green vault dwellers with enough experience between us to barely kill two raiders. I shuddered at the sight of those _animals. _They wore makeshift armor of tires, animal skins, and leather. They were dirty, covered in scars, had little to know hair, and looked half starved. They had jumped us five minutes after leaving Megaton. We had to use too many of our stimpacks after that. We were running low. That was bad. Luckily we had enough food for a week. That was good. I had glanced at Tommy after the battle. He looked guilty, sad, scared. I knew he was still bothered by killing people. I was too. But I felt no remorse for the raiders. I knew that they deserved it.

"Well if you've got a better way to get in the city then I'd love to hear it." Tommy said exasperated.

"Why can't we just climb the rubble?" I asked. I did not want to go in that tunnel.

"I thought that Gob told us that that stuff is so unstable that it can barely hold up its own weight?!" Tommy countered. I looked into his eyes and saw desperation. He really needed to find his dad. He was wearing down.

"Alright." I agreed.

"Thank you." Tommy said in an overly dramatic voice. Cautiously we opened the gate. It was already getting late. The setting sun dimly illuminated the dark room. There was something not right about this place, but then again everything out here seemed like that. We began to walk through the tunnel. I thought about Megaton. We had spent three more days there mostly gathering supplies. We had also said our goodbyes. I recalled the tearful one with Harden.

_"Why are you and Tommy leaving Butch?" Harden wondered aloud._

_ "I already told you man, we gotta find Tommy's dad." Butch answered him._

_ "But why can't I go with you?" Harden asked again, his voice choking up._

_ "I don't know much about the wasteland," Butch said, "But its too dangerous. I swore that I would take care of you, and I'll do that by any means necessary."_

_ "I could help though." Harden pleaded._

_ "No!" I said. Then more gently I added, "It would be my fault if anything happened to you and I can't handle that."_

_ "I understand…" Harden said tearfully, "Tunnel Snakes forever right?"_

_ "You know it man." I replied, "I'll see you soon." Then I turned away._

We had also gotten some weapons from the crazy girl from Craterside Supply. Tommy had gotten a hunting rifle with one hundred shots for it. I however preferred to get an assault rifle and included with it two-hundred-fifty shots. One other thing we had done was get our vault suits armored. It made me feel a bit safer. I still wish we had some more protective armor, but the suits would have to do. Between all that and our debt to Church we were broke. Oh well. We'd be alright. Suddenly Tommy stopped. He pointed ahead. I saw what appeared to be a fire ahead. We were walking along the side of the skeleton of a train. It was in the heart of the subway. Almost pitch black. The only light came from our pipboys. Who was crazy enough to come down here? More raiders perhaps? Whatever the case Tommy pulled his hunting rifle off his back, and I did likewise with my assault rifle. We approached cautiously. There was a man crouched by the fire. He was very clean-cut, had gleaming white teeth (which was unusual for the wasteland from what I'd noticed), a shaved head, and from what I had been told by Moira, he was wearing some glossy black combat armor. He had a laser pistol in pristine condition strapped to his side and a Chinese assault rifle strapped to his back.

"Welcome friends!" he greeted in a southern accent, "What brings you to this fine ghoul hole?"

"We could ask you the same thing." Tommy said lowering his gun slightly.

"Oh me, well I am a traveler. I adventure across the land helping those in need and bringing justice to evildoers!" he shouted a bit too loud for my liking.

"Well what are you doing here?" I asked.

"Looking for something to do." The man stated simply. We exchanged glances. If this man was who he said he was then we could use his help.

"Well we may just have an answer to your problem." Tommy said using his old tunnel snake charm.

"Well shit man why didn't you just say so?!" the man said excitedly.

"We're looking for his dad." I said, "Right now we're heading to GNR and we could probably use some help."

"Missing dad eh?" the man replied, "Well tell you what. I'm an old down-on-his luck adventurer. I'll help you find your daddy kid."

"How much?" Tommy asked simply.

"Beggin' your pardon?"

"How many caps?"

"I don't work for no caps! What's the use of 'em? I live off the land. Nah man this here's a volunteer adventurer!" the man said.

"Are you sure?" I asked. I was starting to like this guy.

"I just said it didn't I kid?!" he cried, "By the way y'all wouldn't happen to be vault dweller would you?"

"As a matter of fact we are." Tommy said nervously. It was an odd question.

"Great! I haven't worked with no vaulties for awhile now!" he said excitedly, "By the way, what's yawl's names?"

"Tommy."

"Butch."

"The name's Quail Richards and it's a pleasure to make your acquaintance." The man said. It was late so we decided to stop for the night. Quail was a pretty cool guy. Finally around one in the morning Tommy decided to turn in. Quail and I stayed up a little longer talking.

"So how long y'all been out of that bunker?" he asked.

"Three and a half weeks." I replied.

"Any interesting encounters so far?" he said curiously. I told him the story up to that point.

"That there's the best story I heard in awhile!" Quail exclaimed, "Shame about Burke though."

"Yeah we think he may be after us." I told him.

"Well have you had any run-ins with talon company yet?" he asked.

"Who?" I asked.

"Oh I am sorry! I forgot y'all was a vaultie." He laughed, "You see they're a bunch of mercenaries. Only they aren't quite so noble as some other groups."

"Which means?" I asked confused.

"Which means they'll come back to this Burke feller with yer head on a silver platter if he asks 'em to." Quail said in a slow mocking tone.

"Oh." I said. I couldn't think of any other response. We sat in silence for awhile. The fire was getting low. I checked the time. 2:00. I yawned and went to turn in.

"Got any spooky stories?" Quail asked. I began to think for the first time, all his years in the sun had gotten to him.

"No." I replied.

"Well that's just fine, 'cause I got one for you." He laughed. His eyes had a faraway look in them.

"Let's hear it." I said too tired to care.

"You know who the brotherhood of steel is right?" he asked me. I heard about them from the radio. Supposedly they were the remnants of the U.S. army, and the ones in the Capital Wasteland were just a contingent sent by a higher group.

"Yeah I've heard of them." I replied.

"Best tech in the wastes right?" he asked baiting me. I nodded. He shook his head, "Wrong."

"Who has better tech than them?" I asked.

"Well see that's the thing, no one really knows who they were. Some say that they were the remnants of the government. Some say vault-tec. But the thing is that not only is their technology better, they are said to be ruthless. I've heard stories of them wiping out vaults they signaled to open, or entire villages being enslaved."

"How much of this do you know to be true?" I asked.

"None." He smiled, "But you know what man. Just this past year I was walking through the wastes, and I saw these people in power armor. It was this shiny black color. And it looked kind of like a bat. They had these glowy green guns in their hands, and they had a helicopter! And you know what I did? I hid. I was scared. I was more scared than I had ever been my entire life. You know why? They lined up a bunch of wasters and shot 'em dead. I heard them say it was 'cause they were impure. Whatever that meant."

"Do you have a name for these people?" Butch asked, a little scared now.

"As a matter of fact I do. I heard them call themselves it when I saw them. The Enclave." He said in a mysterious voice, "Sweet dreams vaultie Butch!"

He lay down. I did too. They fire went out. I kept my pipboy light on. All through the night I heard scratching and rustling. Sometimes even a screech. I think that the light kept the creatures away. But that light did little to light up the dark corners of my imagination. Needless to say, I didn't sleep a wink.

**Author's note: Okay this was an important chapter, because I introduced Quail. Believe me when I say I have big plans for his character. Here is an explanation as to why this story is in first person. I'm not going to mention it in the writing, but the three central characters (Tommy, Butch, and Quail) are writing journals. I know that it's stupid but just assume from now that you are reading the character's journal. And yes Quail is going to be first person too. Las character I promise. He is just going to be very central to the story. One last thing, PLEASE REVIEW!!!!!! I HAVEN'T GOTTEN ANY REVIEWS AT ALL SINCE THE FIRST CHAPTER!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Sorry for shouting.**


	9. Ferals

**Disclaimer: I don't own fallout 3**

1-8 Ferals

**Tommy's point of view**

I sat bolt upright. I was covered in sweat. The nightmares just kept getting worse. This one ended with Quail saying he was sorry and then turning into one of those demons and tearing into me. I looked round it was still dark as hell, but I saw Butch's pipboy light just a little bit away from me. I walked over to it. Butch's eyes had dark circles in them, and he kept looking back and forth at the shadows that the light cast.

"You all right Butch?" I asked concerned.

"Yeah… just… a little tired…" he said softly.

"Didn't you sleep?" I asked.

"No… noises… in the dark…" he whispered terrified.

"Where's Quail?" I asked.

"He told me he was going to go scout ahead." Butch said scared, "That was an hour ago Tommy! What if he left us here?!"

"Calm down." I said shakily. What if Quail did leave us here? I guess we could find our way out, but there was no way we could get to GNR.

"What are we gonna do man? What are we gonna do?" Butch said panicking, "What if those zombie ghouls got him?! I heard them last night man!"

"I'll tell you what we're not gonna do." I replied shakily, "We're not gonna leave Quail down here."

"What you mean go after him!" Butch hissed, "What if he's already dead?!"

"If you want to go back that's fine." I said, "But I gotta do this."

"You just met him last night!" Butch cried, "Why are you risking your life for someone you just met?!"

"I'm not doing this for Quail!" I said as loudly as I dared, "I have too much blood on my hands. It's time I actually helped someone."

"Okay man… okay… I'll help you… but if we see anything that looks dangerous we bolt alright." Butch said. I nodded. Truthfully I thought Quail was a dead man. But I couldn't turn back. Not after I had come this far. Behind me I heard Butch muttering to himself. He was saying things like "it's okay" or "it'll be fine". I never should have let him come. He was my best friend, and I knew that I would the same thing for him. I could see it though, Butch was cracking. These tunnels especially, seemed to wear away at his mind. I was worried. If Quail truly did leave us behind, and since I was stupid enough to go after him, then we were dead. We'd never find our way back. Well we would eventually, but there was the very real chance that we could starve, get shot, or get decapitated by a zombie ghoul. I kept my flashlight in front of me in the dim light.

_Think good thoughts_ I kept telling myself _think good thoughts. _I thought about Amata. She was the love of my life. I wondered if I'd ever see her again. I had silently wished ever since I had gotten out here that she was with me. But I knew that if she had come with me it would have been her death. And then I would be alone. I didn't even know if my dad was alive. For all I knew I was living on one thing: hope. Hope that Butch and I would come out of all this in one piece. Hope that dad was alive, so that I could get some answers. And especially, hope that I would see Amata again. We had been going out since after the G.O.A.T. test. I was thinking about perhaps proposing to her soon. But that was not to be. Fate it seemed had a cruel way of telling you that something was not meant to be. I wondered if she was okay. I prayed that she was okay, that she had convinced the overseer to stand down. If she asked for my help than I would give it.

I began to remember the death that I had caused in the last few weeks. The officer in the Atrium, I hadn't even known the man's name and I had killed him. I had done it to avenge the two civilians I had killed. That was what I told myself at least. I knew in my heart though that I had done it out of anger. None of my murders, in my eyes had been for a noble cause. I had killed Mack in cold blood out of defense of Amata. I knew I didn't need to kill him. He was guilty of the same crimes of the overseer in that situation, yet I had not killed the overseer. Why, I wondered. Because he was Amata's father and I knew she would hate me if I killed him. I had killed the raider out of anger of the animals they were. They had a euphoric high look in their eyes and had dried blood on their lips. Who knew of the unspeakable crimes they committed? I knew that this was not the last time I would have to kill.

"How long have we been walking man?" Butch asked constantly looking around. I checked my pipboy. 2:30.

"An hour." I said. I knew Quail was probably dead at that point, but I didn't know how to get out of there. The only way to go was forward.

"An hour?!" Butch whispered, "He's dead man we gotta get out of here."

"Do you know the way out?" I asked. I had never been this afraid in my entire life.

"We're not gonna last out here man." Butch said seriously, "We lost track of time and slept the day away. Even if we get out of here it'll be dark and who knows what goes bump in the night out here."

"Well what are we gonna do then?" I asked stopping.

"We could try yelling for him." Butch suggested.

"It could attract attention." I cautioned.

"Well seeing as we're probably gonna die down here anyways, what have we got to lose." Butch said grimly.

"Well if some monster comes out of the dark then we bolt alright." I said. Butch nodded.

"QUAIL!" I shouted. The noise reverberated around the dark tunnel.

"Quail where are you?!" Butch yelled. Again it echoed. We called over and over as we advanced forward, not getting any response.

"QUAIL ARE YOU HERE?!" Butch shouted again. Then suddenly he stopped. There out of the dimness stepped a figure. But it wasn't Quail, and definitely wasn't human. It looked like Gob, but it wore no clothes. Its skin was virtually burned off and it was so radiated that its flesh popped and burned with painful blisters. Its teeth were sharp as fang and most of them were rotten. It hissed. I raised my rifle and fired a shot into it's chest. It didn't even appear phased.

"RUN!" I shouted and took off. But then I was tackled from behind. Even though the creature was emaciated beyond belief, it was very strong. I felt a stinging pain down my back as the creature attacked me with claw-like fingernails. I kicked back ward and felt my foot connect with flesh. I was momentarily released and I saw Butch struggling with another ghoul as well as more of the creatures stampeding out of the darkness. I tried to get up to help my friend, but suddenly my legs were pulled out from under me. I landed on my back and briefly saw the creature with one eye swollen shut bite into my leg. I screamed in pain and drew my 10mm. I unloaded the entire clip into the top of the creature's head. It stopped moving. I unlatched its teeth from my leg, and fired another three shots into the one Butch was trying to fight off.

"Tunnel snakes rule!" I shouted gaining confidence. These things weren't so tough, but they were plentiful. There must have been at least ten in the area we stood in. Butch pulled out his assault rifle and fired into the ghouls. Several of them fell but more just seemed to come. Soon we were backed up against a train hitting off the ghouls with a baseball bat. Suddenly a ghoul that was actually glowing from radiation raised its arms and the all too familiar burn filled my body. I collapsed to my knees coughing. I tasted blood. Then another ghoul threw something which hit Butch in the shoulder. He started to scream. I saw in the light a bloody burnt wound on his shoulder. Whatever the substance was I did not want to be hit by it.

"I'm sorry I dragged you into this Butch." I said scared.

"Don't be man I would have come anyway." He smiled. He knew this was probably the end. The same ghoul that had thrown the substance at Butch grabbed legs and dragged me into the crowd. I heard Butch cry my name in anguish as he fired into the mass of ghouls. I noticed that the ghouls weren't organized and were actually fighting amongst themselves. I tried my best to fight them off and I managed to kill some of the weaker ones, but there were still about fifteen left and I knew it was futile when one tackled me to the ground and prepared to burn my face off with that substance it had hit Butch with. I shut my eyes. Then suddenly I heard the noise of a laser pistol being fired and felt the ghoul collapse. Its head was missing. I turned and saw Quail with a laser pistol in each hand taking down more and more of the creatures and with some help from Butch and I the battle was soon over. Quail wiped sweat from his brow and turned to face us.

"Shit, I leave you two alone for five minutes, and you nearly get yourselves killed by a bunch of feral ghouls!" he laughed. Then he stopped and his face grew more serious, "Well as soon as we get your boo-boos patched up then we're moving on." As we sat down for some doctor work, all I could think was that I was glad Quail was on our side.

**Author's note: Well there you go. I tried to show you guys some of Tommy's inner thoughts in this chapter. I didn't think I was delving deep enough considering he is the main character. To anyone who celebrates it (like me) I hope you have a happy and safe Thanksgiving! Unfortunately I will be unable to update for most likely this weekend. Blame my biology techer not me. Sorry.**


	10. The Storm

**Disclaimer: I don't own fallout 3**

1-9 The Storm

**Butch's point of view**

When we finally emerged from the dark tunnels I practically threw myself to the ground and kissed it. We had wandered down there for two days apparently. I guess you lose track of time in that place.

"Alrighty now I know you love her, but you gotta say bye-bye to the rubble." Quail said sarcastically. Tommy chuckled quietly.

"I just know I'm not going back in those tunnels if I can help it." I sighed.

"Why not? All you gotta worry about is a bunch of feral ghouls!" Quail grinned, "Besides its good fun to shoot 'em up!"

"Maybe for you, but I personally don't like stumbling around in the dark while looking for you!" I countered, "And you still haven't told us where you went."

"I told you I went to scout ahead." He assured, "If y'all would have just waited then our trip through the scary tunnel of doom would have been a lot quicker!"

"Bullshit no one takes that long to scout." Tommy interjected.

"So I got a little lost sue me." Quail argued, "You're lucky I'm bothering to help you."

"We're grateful and all, but don't just run off like that without us." I pleaded.

"Fine, from now on you come with me." He said.

_BANG! _

"Find some cover!" Quail shouted as he drew his Chinese assault rifle. I leaped behind an old lamp post. It was the largest cover I could find. I turned and saw Quail and Tommy crouched behind a large pile of rubble.

"What are we looking at?!" I yelled.

"Supermutants! Three of 'em!" Quail shouted back. I glanced briefly behind me and recognized the creatures for the monsters we had seen our first day out here. I drew my 10mm looking into the scope. The mutants fired. I ducked behind the lamp post. I heard the creatures advancing. Drawing the assault rifle, I fired blindly into them. They returned fire, and I heard the characteristic ping of the bullet bouncing off the lamp post. Leaning over, I once again returned fire into the trio. I managed to hit one in the leg a few times. The creature roared in a bloodlust, and charged blindly toward me. I started to run, but then the creature's head exploded in shower of blood and ash. The other two were swiftly taken out in a similar fashion.

"Whoa what the hell was that?!" I yelled excited. Quail however was a bit more cautious.

"Who's there?!" he shouted, "Show yourself!" He fired his Chinese assault rifle into several of the buildings.

"Calm down Quail." Tommy said, "Whoever fired just saved us. Why would they immediately kill us afterwards?"

"Listen kid, you're still a green vaultie." He warned, "I'll tell you one thing, trust no one. The only reason these people saved us, was probably so killing us would be easier."

"Don't you think you're being a little paranoid?" I asked.

"No I don't." he hissed, "I'm trying to keep y'all alive, so you'd best listen." We stayed quiet after that. Maybe Quail was right. But then again he did seem to be more than a little eccentric. In any case we looted the creature's bodies for what little weapons and ammo they had and headed on. We walked through the bombed out remains of a building and came to an alleyway. Suddenly, four people in what appeared to the power armor we had been taught about in the vault jumped out.

"Halt citizens." Said a woman in a partially synthetic voice, "What are you doing here?"

"Well we were trying to make our way to G.N.R." Quail answered for us.

"You three should know better than coming to the ruins, they're a deathtrap to anyone outside of the brotherhood!" another of the soldiers said cockily.

"Quiet Reddin, don't lecture them!" another man snapped in a un synthetic voice.

"Look, all we want to do is get to the radio station so we can ask Three Dog a few questions." Tommy interrupted, "We'll be out of your hair after that, we promise." The first woman who appeared to be their leader appeared to consider it.

"Fine," she said, "You can follow us to the station, just stay out of our way."

We continued our way into the alleyway, but were interrupted by more gunshots.

"Ambush!" the leader called out. Surprisingly they didn't look for cover but charged ahead around the corner of the alley. I looked at Tom and Quail, but they just shrugged. I decided it would be best to stick close to the brotherhood of steel, so I followed them. I immediately regretted it, as I walked into the fray of a massive assault on the ruins of a building. While the brotherhood appeared to be mostly protected from the bullets by the thick power armor Tommy, Quail, and I were completely exposed.

"Get down!" Quail shouted as he tackled me. A bullet whizzed by almost a second later. Quail dragged me into the cover of a pile of rubble.

"You hurt vaultie Butch?" he asked. I shook my head.

"Good then start kicking some ass!" he shouted before charging into the fray wielding his Chinese assault rifle.

"Crazy son of a bitch," I muttered as I drew my assault rifle. I aimed down the sights at one of the mutant snipers. Pop went his head. I aimed at another and down he went. The mutants clearly weren't masters of strategy. I saw Tommy shoot a pre-war car. The explosion was almost deafening. Quail was something else. He charged at the building firing three round bursts and very rarely missing. Then suddenly he staggered and fell. I feared the worst but only for a second. He crawled into cover and appeared to inject some substance into his arm. With that he drew his favored combo of double laser pistols and raised hell on the stragglers. When all was said and he wiped sweat from his brow and turned to us.

"Keep up y'all are missing the fun!" he yelled excitedly before charging into the building.

"Who are these guys ma'am?" a brotherhood member we just ran into asked.

"No one Colvin." The woman who appeared to be the leader replied, "They're just a couple of stragglers that we picked up."

"You all right Butch?" I heard Tommy ask.

"Yeah I'm fine." I replied. He tossed me a water bottle. I took a quick swig and tossed it back for him to finish it off.

"Come on," he urged, "Like Quail said, we're missing all the fun."

I laughed at that. From what I had come to know about Quail, was that you couldn't stop him from doing what he wanted to do. He followed his own rules and I admired that about him. Tommy and I followed the others through the building, which appeared to be a school. After making short work of the stragglers, we came to the doorway at the back of the school. We found Quail there crouched behind the wall that led into a courtyard. There were more sounds of gunfire coming from the courtyard.

"What are we looking at wastelander?!" the leader yelled over the sounds of gunfire.

"One hell of a party that's for damn sure!" Quail shouted back excitedly, "We got about twelve of the uglies! And if I aint mistaken, they're led by an overlord!"

"What the hell is an overlord?!" I shouted. Suddenly there was a huge roar as a supermutant that was even bulkier than the rest of the ones I had seen charged into the school. It wore a makeshift helmet, and armor that appeared to be made of scrap metal. It wielded a gun that was similar in appearance to the one that the brotherhood had been using, however when this rifle fired instead of just one laser, it fired three. It swiftly tore through one of the soldiers by ramming him into the wall with all its strength. Even the thick steel plating of the power armor offered little defense against the mutant's brute strength. We poured everything we had into the abomination, but it just would not go down. It fired its gun catching a soldier in the leg. Quail with expert marksmanship hit the creature's weapon with his laser pistols melting the gun's nozzle. The creature in response took two large sledgehammers of its back. It swung them with devastating efficiency. It caught another soldier in the legs. I heard a loud snap. The creature raised one of its hammers again poised for the killing blow. The man pulled a grenade from a belt on his armor and pulled the pin. He tossed it near the creature's feet and managed to drag himself far enough away from the explosion where the armor took most of the blast. When we came out of cover we found the creature's bloodied corpse missing both legs. The soldier who had been slammed into the wall lay still. The leader checked him and ripped a small chain from his neck. The other two helped the soldier who had taken the blow to the legs into cover.

"Definitely broken," one of the soldiers said, "Hang here Colvin we'll come get you."

"Whip some ass for me Reddin." Colvin said weakly.

"Will do sir," Reddin replied before charging out the door.

"Crazy initiate." The other soldier shook his head. We followed the soldier into the fray. Luckily, there was several more of the brotherhood there to help us. Between the reinforcements we had brought and the brotherhood already there, we managed to make short work of the remaining mutants.

"Five dead and three wounded." The leader said taking account of the losses.

"Sorry for your losses." I said sincerely. Quail and Tommy shared as much sympathy.

"Thanks." The leader took her helmet off to reveal the most beautiful woman I had ever seen, "You three handled yourselves pretty well for wastelanders. I'm Sentinel Sarah Lyons of the Brotherhood of Steel. More specifically I lead Lyons' pride."

"What's that?" I asked.

"It's an elite squad of brotherhood soldiers assigned to take on the most important and or crucial missions." Lyons said curtly. A short distance from us Reddin was celebrating.

"Initiate Reddin," the man who appeared to be a mentor of sorts said, "Stop wasting ammo."

"Come on Vargas," Reddin pleaded, "We just kicked their asses!"

"You can have all the booze you want inside." He smiled, "For now go check out that area by the bus. Make sure there's no more muties left to take our heads off."

"Can do." Reddin said. With that she trotted off towards an overturned bus. I sat down on an old bench. Quail and Tommy sat on either side of me.

"So what was that thing that attacked us in the school?" Tommy asked.

"That my friend was a supermutant overlord." He said, "I need a smoke."

"So why wouldn't he go down?" I asked.

"Beats me kid," Quail replied, "All I know is that they're the strongest, fastest, and most deadly mutie in the wastes. That's excluding the behemoth of course."

"Well what's a behemoth?" Tommy asked. Suddenly there was a huge roar. We all looked up.

"Reddin!" Vargas shouted. He had to be held back by Lyons, "Get away from the bus!"

Reddin started to run. There was a loud crash and scraping noise. Then another one. Suddenly there was a deafening explosion, and the bus flew forward taking Reddin with it. From the smoke stepped a mutant of likes that I had never seen before, and thankfully have not seen since. The monstrosity stood at a height of at least twenty feet. Its muscles were of a gargantuan size. It wore a belt of skulls as well as a necklace of them. For a weapon it wielded a fire hydrant attached to the end of a large pole. It wore the broken shell of a car on its arm for a shield.

"BEHEMOTH!" Lyons shouted. The creature absorbed everything we fired at it. Most of the brotherhood, including Lyons retreated into the ruins of the school. They were not going to last long. The creature was slowly destroying the dilapidated walls. Quail, Tommy, and I were caught in the open. We spread to three separate sections of the courtyard and tried to distract the monstrosity as best we could.

"STOP SHOOTING IT!" Quail screamed, "LET US DIRECT ITS ATTENTION!"

Lyons saw what he was doing. As soon as the brotherhood stopped firing, the creature felt a new pain and it turned its furious gaze upon us. It charged fist at me. It was all I could do to dive out of the way when the creature brought the fire hydrant down on the place I had been a second before. The force of the shockwave sent me skidding across the pavement. I coughed and tasted blood. The creature turned its attention to Quail. It clubbed dangerously close to him. Again the shockwave sent him careening through the air. He hit the wall of the G.N.R. building and collapsed in a heap.

"GET THE FATMAN!" Lyons screamed, "IT'S IN THE FOUNTAIN!"

I glanced toward the fountain. I managed to crawl over to it. In it was a dead brotherhood soldier with a strange weapon. It looked somewhat like a missile launcher, but it had a large cage on the top of it. Beside the weapon were what appeared to be a smaller version of the bomb in Megaton. I loaded one of the bombs into the launcher, and turned to fire, but to my horror I saw that the monstrosity was to close to Tommy to shoot it. I had to put the incredibly heavy device down and fire at the creature to get a clear shot. With a roar the creature tore through the courtyard toward me. Throwing my assault rifle to the side, I picked up the launcher. I turned to fire.

_SMACK!_

To this day I don't know how I am alive. I should have died right there. I took the full force of the creature's fire hydrant to my side. I slammed into the wall of the station. I coughed and tasted blood. I saw the launcher not far to my side. I grasped it with my good arm. It was too heavy. With an excruciating cry of pain, I tried to lift it with my other arm.

"No Butch," Tommy whispered, "Let me."

He picked up the launcher. The creature roared and charged. Tommy fired. The explosion was deafening. It created it blinded me for a brief moment. When I finally regained my sight I saw the monster missing several limbs lying close by us. It was a miracle that the creature had not crushed us when it fell. I heard slightly muted cries from the brotherhood. They poured out of the school towards us. Quail too it seemed had regained consciousness. I felt Tommy carrying me toward the front entrance. I was hurt. I knew it. I heard snatches of conversation as they carried me into the dark interior of the building, such as "he needs help" and "hurry". The pain was excruciating.

"Hold on Butch." I recognized Tommy's voice, "Hold on." Then darkness.

**Author's note: I apologize very much for the length of time this took to come out. I have been very bogged down by homework in this past week, so I haven't really had an opportunity to do this. But still I hope all of you enjoyed this chapter. Thanks to Firpi for your kind reviews! They really mean a lot to me. This fic has been a lot of fun to write so far, so I think I'll be here for awhile. Also as you may have noticed, I changed the title. This story was originally called Through it all, but I really didn't like it that much. I like this new title The Pure much better. It also has greater relevance to the story, as you will eventually see. But for now its time for bed, so good night!**


	11. Sunrise

**Disclaimer: I don't own fallout 3**

1-10 Sunrise

**Quail's point of view**

It had been two days. Butch wasn't waking up. Hell, he was barely breathing. It looked like half of his body had been broken by the blow. The kid should've died. It was a miracle really that he was even alive at all. The brotherhood soldiers had been kind to us. They had reequipped us with better weapons and armor. I refused. I liked the combo that I had. Tommy had been equipped with some standard issue combat armor and the same brand of Chinese assault rifle that I carried. For a sidearm he now carried a 44 magnum un-scoped. Butch if and when he woke up would get the same. None of this seemed to matter to Tommy however. At first he was in a grief. I could sympathize with the kid. He was searching for his dad, who was most likely dead. If Butch died then he would have no one left in the world. He hadn't even spoken to Three-Dog yet. I leaned against the wall watching the sunrise over the shattered ruins. I lit a cigarette. It was one of my favorite pastimes.

"You're up early." Came a familiar voice.

"I could say the same about you." I turned to Tommy. He looked very different from the kid I had met about a week ago. His hair was clean cut and he had a clean shave. Dark circles lay beneath his eyes showing his obvious lack of sleep. His face bore three fresh scars, where one of the ghouls had slashed him. His new combat armor was now painted black and had an 'S' painted in yellow on the back. I had seen him do the same to Butch's armor.

"Yeah well," he sighed, "I'm not sleeping so well these days."

"Bad dreams?" I said jokingly.

"More than you know." He replied dryly. "It's the anniversary."

"You didn't tell me you was married!" I laughed. He chuckled a little at that.

"Actually, if my pipboy is right then I left vault 101 exactly one month ago." He said quietly.

"Do you miss there?" I asked honestly.

"A little bit." He replied, "I hate to say it, but I guess I'm forgetting about it."

"You have a girl?" I asked even though I knew the answer.

"Her name was Amata." Tommy sighed. The faintest blur of tears could be seen on his eyes. I pretended not to notice. We were both quiet for awhile.

"Do you want one?" I offered him a smoke. He hesitated for a second but then took one. I lit it for him. We were both silent for awhile lost in our own thoughts.

"MACCARTHUR!" a voice suddenly cut through the chilly morning air, "WE KNOW YOU'RE UP THERE! COME OUT, AND WE'LL MAKE THIS EASY!"

I glanced at him, but we just shrugged. Since we had a contingent of brotherhood of steel soldiers backing us up, we figured we would be alright. We walked down the steps into the dim grey morning light. Three men in identical black combat armor stood in front of us. They each had a small symbol painted on their armor showing that they were talon mercenaries.

"I'm here," Tommy said calmly, "Now what do you want?"

Their leader a burly and scarred man considered this for a moment, "A certain Mr. Burke would like to speak with you."

"You can tell Burke that he's a dead man walking." Tommy growled.

"Ooooo scary!" The leader snickered, "Listen kid if you wanna pick a fight with the big boys then at least make sure that you have no mercy. From what Burke told us, you had him pinned and you wouldn't kill him because of some higher sense of honor."

"Listen y'all," I said slowly, for Talon company was not an enemy that you wanted, "We have no quarrel with you. Why don't you just head on home?"

"Fuck off," the leader said, "We're not here for you. Oh by the way Macarthur, where's your boyfriend? Burke wants him too."

"I'm going to give you one minute to end this peacefully. You can turn around and forget that this ever happened and go back to whatever place you call home."

"Sorry kid unless you have twenty thousand caps, no dice." The leader said, "And you won't kill me either! You know why? Because you're a spineless wimp!" I did not interfere, this was Tommy's fight, "I don't care how many soldiers you got in there! I'll kill all of 'em! And when that's done I'll find your boyfriend and I'll kill him in front of you! Oh it aint gonna be quick either. We'll take our time. We'll pluck out his fingernails and toenails one by one! Then will come his teeth! Oh, and to finish the job, we'll chop his balls off and let him bleed out nice and slow. So why don't you grab your boyfriend and we'll take nice hike out to Burke's and let…"

_BANG!_

Part of the leader's head was blown off. Blood and brain matter sprayed all over the mercenaries. They swiftly open fired. We crouched behind cover. The fire stopped signifying that they were reloading. I nodded to him. We fired hitting our mark. Clearly they had not been the leader for a reason. We walked over to the bodies. They had some ammo for the assault rifles, but that was the extent of it. Tommy briefly paused to close their eyes. I noticed a piece of paper on the leader's corpse. It had a detailed description of both Butch and Tommy. I noticed the words ten thousand caps. I handed it to Tommy who glanced at it briefly before crumpling it up and throwing it away.

"So I guess Burke wants some revenge?" Tommy muttered more to himself than me, "I swear when I find him I'll kill him."

"I thought you weren't the killing type?" I asked concerned.

"Yeah well," he sighed, "Things change."

"Indeed they do kid." I agreed, "Cheer up. It could have been those crazy atom worshippers. According to vaultie Butch, y'all have a bone to pick with them too."

"So they haven't found us yet?" Tommy asked perhaps a bit annoyed.

"It could be any number of reasons." I explained, "Most likely they don't have the resources that this Burke guy does. But when they do find us, it aint gonna be pretty."

"Thanks for helping us Quail." Tommy said quietly.

"Don't go get soft on me now!" I joked. Tommy grinned for the fist time in days.

"I think I'm gonna go talk to Three-Dog." He went inside. I shook my head and watched the rest of the sun come up.

*********

I sat on my bunk cleaning my rifle. All of a sudden, the chick Lyons walked in.

"Am I interrupting?" she asked politely.

"Of course not sweetie!" I said happily.

"Watch yourself wastelander." She grinned, "My dad doesn't like me dating, and you don't want my dad to be angry at you."

"Oh I'm sure he aint so bad." I laughed. Lyons stayed quiet for a moment. She appeared to be trying to come up with the right thing to say.

"The pride and I are leaving soon, and its just that we never got a chance to really thank you for saving our asses against the behemoth." She muttered.

"Shucks honey it was nothing!" I said.

"Be serious for a moment please," she sighed, "Your friend may have very well given his life for ours a few strangers."

"Well that means a lot and I thank you for it." I said quietly, "But I think it would mean a lot more to Tommy."

"Where could I find him?" she asked.

"He went to talk to Three-Dog." I answered, "Don't mention that his friend is dying though. He's a little on edge."

She nodded understandingly and after thanking me again, walked out of the room. I went back to cleaning my weapon lost in thought. I thought about these new vault dwellers. They had proved to be interesting so far. I knew that this mission of theirs to find Tommy's missing father would be worth it in the end. This mission was important. I knew that I couldn't fail. There was another knock on the door.

"Back for more sweetheart?" I asked in a sarcastic tone.

"I'm not your sweetheart," a gruff voice said. I recognized it as the doctor.

"Sorry," I said embarrassed.

"It's alright." He laughed, "I just came to tell you that your friend is awake." I blinked in surprise.

"Is he okay?" I asked worried.

"He is for now at least," the doctor replied, "He's asking for you and Tommy though."

"Thank you so much!" I said enthusiastically. With the that I left the room to find Tommy.

**Author's note: Things are finally starting to calm down so I should be able to update more. I know this chapter isn't the best, and it's kind of boring, because not much happens. Thanks go out to Firpi for your kind reviews and for putting me on the alert list. I'd also like to thank Maleficus333 for both putting me on alert and favorting this story. The next chapter should most likely be out tomorrow. See you!**


	12. Favors

**Disclaimer: I don't own fallout 3**

1-11 Favors

**Tommy's point of view**

"I'd like to be last to welcome you to Galaxy News Radio. So what can Three-Dog do for you?"

Three-Dog sat his feet propped up on a desk. His face wore a charismatic smirk. He did well to hide his eyes with those glasses of his, for I didn't exactly trust him from first impressions. A head wrap covered his hair if he had any. His skin was dark brown, and he had the typical voice of a DJ. His clothes consisted of a pair of torn jeans a white T-shirt and a leather jacket with the sleeves ripped off. Overall he would have been classified as "cool".

"Hello! You some kind of crazy?" he said loudly. I shook my head snapping myself out of it.

"No sir I'm not." I replied.

"Well then spit it out kid!" Three-Dog said in mock impatience, "What do you want?"

"I'm looking for my dad, and I was told that he came here." I said hopefully. Three-Dog looked at me quizzically. Then he grinned as realization dawned on his face.

"Well I'll be damned," he said softly, "You're James's boy aren't you? What's your name? Tommy that's right! It's good to finally meet you!" Three-Dog seemed like the kind of person who liked to here himself talk.

"It's good to meet you too." I said, "I've been listening to your broadcasts."

"Well that's a good thing!" he laughed. His expression suddenly turned to one of sadness, "Not enough people can here the Good Fight nowadays."

"Well what's the Good Fight?" I could not afford to get on this guy's bad side.

"Basically I tell people how it is." Three-Dog replied, "I don't try to sugarcoat it like that Enclave Radio."

"What's Enclave Radio?" I asked curious.

"Oh it's just some old prerecorded station on a loop on how we should get back to the good old days. I doubt whoever was running it is still alive though." He replied, "But getting back to the matter at hand, you think I know where Daddy is?"

"Yes that's right." I said getting a headache.

"Well it just so happens that you are right." Three-Dog said overly dramatic. "I have your dad's last known location."

"Well are you gonna tell me?" I winced. I hadn't meant for it to come out like that.

"Hold your horses now." He said defensively, "Now I run this fine radio station right?"

"Right." I said trying not to rub my temples.

"Well as you've probably noticed our signal is shit." Three-Dog said. I nodded. It really did suck.

"Well that's because some supermutant decided to shoot down our relay." He explained.

"So what do you want me to do about it?" I asked getting annoyed.

"Well down in this lovely place called the mall, there's a nice little museum that happens to contain a replacement dish." He handed me a small picture depicting an old satellite dish. "Apparently it was from some old trip to space believe it or not, so try the Museum of Technology."

"And what am I supposed to do with this dish once I have it?" I asked.

"You've seen the Washington monument right? It's the tallest thing left in the city. All you gotta do is climb up to the top and switch the dishes!" he exclaimed.

"What does the monument look like?" I asked.

"It's just this giant skeleton of what it once was." Three-Dog said, "Don't worry kid you'll know it when you see it."

"So if I do this you'll tell me where my dad went?" I asked unsure.

"Don't worry kid, Three-Dog always holds up his end of the deal." He assured me. I still didn't trust him. I turned to leave.

"Are you sure you're up for this kid? The mall is crawling with muties." He said concerned. I turned to face him.

"Well Three-Dog, I don't really think I'm up for any of this. But I don't have a choice now do I?" I said sourly.

"Well I'll give you some advice. There's a ghoul city in the Museum of History. Treat them nice, and they'll help you out." He said.

"Thanks." I said quietly before walking out. God was I getting sick of this place. Nothing was free, everyone needed some favor. Why did it have to be me, some scrawny nobody kid who just crawled out of a hole in the ground? What made me so special? I wasn't good at much. I wasn't that great at much, I couldn't repair; I wasn't that great at shooting. The few things I was good at didn't count for much now. And to top it all off, I had Three-Dog's annoying voice stuck in my head, which only fed my already festering headache. That was when I saw Quail running up the stairs almost out of breath.

"Hey man." I said, "Believe me it's good to see you."

"That's sweet kid. But your friend just woke up apparently." He coughed.

"What?!" I shouted, "Why didn't you come sooner?!"

"I just found out!" Quail cried defensively. I took of in a full run down the stairs, bumping into several of the Brotherhood. When I arrived in the hospital, I saw Butch lying there, half of his torso and one arm heavily bandaged. His eyes were unfocused. If I had not been told, I would have assumed him for dead.

"Tommy?" Butch said weakly, "Is that you?"

"Yeah it's me." I said with a large wave of relief. Maybe Butch would be alright after all.

"What the fuck happened to you?" he laughed an ugly wheezing noise that was conjured in the bowels of his throat. "You look like Andy took his buzzsaw to your head!"

"Well you look like some bum on the streets." I retorted.

"So do you know where your dad is?" he asked.

"No," I snorted, "Three-Dog needs me to go fix his radio signal."

"Well when are you leaving?" he wondered.

"Soon." I said simply. Quail finally made it into the room.

"Hey! Look who's finally awake!" He shouted. Butch however wasn't listening.

"You're not just gonna go without me right?" He said in dismay

"The doctor said that the stimpacks probably need at least another week to help you heal fully." Quail explained.

"I thought we were a team though?" he said sadly, "Tunnel snakes for life right?"

"Well yeah man it's just that you're hurt and…" my voice trailed off.

"What he's trying to say vaultie Butch is that he doesn't want you to get killed because of him." Quail finished for me. I never thought Quail could have been so sympathetic.

"I didn't leave you in Megaton." Butch said.

"I would have understood if you had." I tried to explain. Butch considered it for a moment.

"Fine." He said simply, "I understand."

"Are you sure?" I asked.

"It's okay really." Butch reassured me, "I'd do the same thing if it were my father out there. He's your only flesh and blood left Tommy you gotta find him."

"Thanks Butch." I said softly.

"Don't mention it buddy." He said with a small grin. After a final "get well" we left the room and went to prepare for the journey. Quail was handling the provisions.

"So where are we going?" he asked.

"The Mall."

"How are we gonna get there?"

"I don't know."

"And if we do make it there, what exactly are we looking?"

"Some old satellite dish to fix Three-Dog's signal."

"And if we succeed in this little endeavor?"

"We'll be one step closer to finding my dad."

"So when are we going?"

"As soon as we know how to get there; any more questions?"

"Yeah does this smell funny?" he shoved an old sock that had been lying on the floor in m fortunately we were forced to wait for half an hour while he finished up recording a broadcast about the dangers of radiation.

"y face. I punched him playfully in the shoulder.

"You know something?" he asked.

"What?" I replied with a question.

"You vaulties are alright." He said warmly. I smiled. We finished packing what food we had had and strapped on our weapons. We headed upstairs for one last chat with Three-Dog. Unfortunately we were forced to sit through a half hour of him recording a broadcast.

"What's the matter kiddo? Did you forget?" Three-Dog said snidely.

"No actually you forgot to tell me how to get to the Mall." I replied.

"Just take that door down the stairs and you'll come to a little clearing." he explained, "From there, you should be able to take the subway to the mall. Oh and kid, it's a one way trip, so you'll have to find another way back."

We thanked him and exited the building through the door described. We found ourselves on a small ledge overlooking a ditch that was crossed by a bridge. From what I could see, several ghouls awaited us below.

"So assuming we do get this dish installed, how are we gonna get back?" Quail asked.

"Listen," I explained, "I don't care if I have to bash that door down with my fist, we're gonna come back through this way." Quail nodded. With that we stepped out of the relative safety of G.N.R. back into the harshness of the wasteland.

**Author's note: Yeah I know these last two chapters have been slow. But it will get better I promise! Thanks Nemesia for trying out my story and reviewing it. I know the fist chapter sucks. It was my first time writing. I would like to think the story has gotten better since then. Bye for now!**


	13. New Friends

**Disclaimer: I don't own fallout 3**

1-12 New Friends

**Quail's point of view**

"What are we looking for again?"

"I told you! We need some mercenary, or some kind of gun for hire."

"But we don't have any money!"

"I've been saving a little something for a rainy day."

"But it never rains out here."

"True enough kid."

"Why do we need a mercenary?"

"Well unless you'd like to get chewed up and spit out by the monsters out there, I suggest you find one!"

"We did fine at G.N.R.!"

"Well we had the brotherhood of steel backing us up then."

"Fine, but make sure we can we can trust him. I don't want my throat cut in my sleep."

I nodded. We split off into opposite directions. Tommy was royally pissed about having to come to Underworld. It was necessary though. The Mall might as well have been the supermutant's base of operations out here in the Capital Wasteland. We needed at least one more man without an itchy trigger finger to survive out there. Underworld seemed like our best bet. Luckily we had found the right museum. We had however had to fight our way there. There had been at least eight. We were lucky. They had just been the stragglers. There had to be at least one-hundred of the things out there. Most of them seemed to be converging upon the Capital Building for whatever reason. So that brought us to Underworld the ghoul sanctuary.

Underworld wasn't much. It was little more than a shop, a few makeshift bars, and a doctor's office salvaged from museum exhibits. I could understand Tommy being angry. This mission was taking entirely too long. We had spent three days wandering down the maze that we called the subways. If took much longer, Three-Dog would most likely give up on us. Then again, he didn't have much of a choice. I seriously doubted the brotherhood would do it for him. Sure Three-Dog was the voice of the people, but he probably didn't matter that much to them other than a means of protection. Tommy had checked out the Enclave radio in the subways. He waved it off as nonsense and that it was probably on a loop from some organization long died out. I agreed with him, but still what kind of station had that powerful of a signal?

I walked up the stairs into one of Underworlds two bars. The sign at the door read "The Ninth Circle". A tall ghoul stood in the corner of the bar, obviously some kind of bouncer. Many of the ghouls in there had a dazed but pleasured look on their face. I sat down at the counter and was greeted by a ghoul barkeep in pre-war business wear. He wore a sly smile on his face.

"Welcome friend, to the Ninth Circle!" the ghoul said to me slyly, "What can I get you?"

"Information mostly," I replied.

"Well then you came to the right place." The ghoul assured me, "The name's Ahzrukhal by the way."

"My friend and I have a job to do here in the Mall." I explained, "And we need someone with a little muscle to help us out."

Ahzrukhal laughed, "Heard it a thousand times my friend. I'll tell what I told everyone else. You see that guy in the corner there?"

"Yeah."

"That there is Charon. Best bodyguard, henchman, soldier, whatever you want him to be in the wastes!" he advertised.

"And why's that?" I asked.

"Because he's motherfuckin' brain dead!" Ahzrukhal yelled, "He'll do whatever you ask him to as long as you say his name first! If I didn't know any better, I'd think he was some kind of robot!"

"Prove it." I stated. This felt wrong, but it was like my father had always told me: the ends justify the means. Besides, this place did not seem like the best environment for the ghoul.

"Hey, Charon!" he shouted. Charon looked up. "Stand on one foot!" Charon obliged his expression void.

"How long have you had him?" I asked turning away.

"Must be just over ten years now." He answered, "I bought him off some down-on-his-luck caravan driver."

"How much?" I asked serious now. Ahzrukhal grinned devilishly.

"Well you see buddy, here's the thing. Charon is very near and dear to me." He snickered, "I couldn't just give him up easily. I'd say a price of no less than three-thousand caps."

"I'll give you two-thousand and I'll agree not to tell your friend Winthrop what you're doing here." I said coldly.

"Why whatever do you mean?" he said innocently.

"Don't play dumb." I snapped, "Look at these people. They're high as fuck. And since they're all ghouls, it must be a pretty powerful narcotic. From what Winthrop said, he's got enough to worry about without an asshole like you selling a poison to people."

Ahzrukhal blinked in surprise. "Alright fine you win. Two thousand it is. But you had better not tell Winthrop. I know a few people and when they find you it won't be pleasant."

"Don't worry, trust me," I said in disgust as I handed over the small fortune. I only had about one-hundred left now. We would have to make it last. Ahzrukhal handed me a thin faded notebook.

"This is Charon's contract." He explained to me, "As long as you have that, he'll be a good little dog for you. Just give him a treat once in awhile."

"What's in here?" I asked flipping through the pages.

"A bunch of observations and stuff about Charon, it's an interesting read. Give it a try." He answered.

"Pleasure doing business with you," I said with mock politeness.

"Just take Charon and get the fuck out." Ahzrukhal snarled obviously more than a little upset. I walked over to Charon and got a good look at him for the first time. He was a foot taller than me at least and wore simple leather armor. His expression was blank. His skin appeared to be a darker red than the other ghouls that I had experienced. An evil looking custom made shotgun was strapped to his back.

"Charon," I said to him. He looked up. "I have your contract." Charon gave me a brief nod.

"What is your orders master?" he asked in the gravelly voice all ghouls seemed to share.

"How long have you served Ahzrukhal?" I asked.

"Ten years and one hundred and seventeen days sir." He replied robotically.

"Did he treat you with respect?" I asked him. Charon shook his head.

"Do you hate him Charon?" I asked again. Charon nodded.

"Do you wish to kill him Charon?" I asked charismatically.

"I do not have wishes sir, only you do." Charon said sharply.

"Well Charon, if I was in your position with Ahzrukhal, I would want to kill him." I whispered. Charon's face remained blank.

"Charon, I want you to think of all the times he humiliated you, all the times he abused you." I whispered, "Think about that for a moment." Charon's eyes glazed over for a second. Suddenly he marched to the counter with purpose.

"Come to say goodbye?" Ahzrukhal said bitterly. Without warning, Charon's hand shot forward, grabbing the suit jacket and Dragging Ahzrukhal into the air.

"I served you for ten years, and you never showed any sign of compassion, of respect!" Charon shouted in an unearthly roar.

"Take it easy Charon!" Ahzrukhal yelled terrified.

"No, you take it easy!" Charon lifted Ahzrukhal high in the air and slammed him onto the counter. I watched him from the shadows. Charon pulled out his shotgun and shot Ahzrukhal in both knees effectively taking the legs off from the knee down. Ahzrukhal shrieked in pain. Charon broke a bottle over the counter and dragged the jagged edge down the side of Ahzrukhal's face. What little tears could be had sprang to his eyes. I watched the entire time. Ahzrukhal had lost his humanity. He deserved to die. Most of the customers seemed to not care or not to notice. It must have been one hell of a drug. Finally after five minutes, the screaming stopped. Ahzrukhal's corpse lay in pieces with a missing head, limbs, and all his teeth. His fingernails too had been removed out of spite. The bar lay in a bloody mess. After taking back my caps, I decided it would be best to leave.

"We are leaving now Charon." I said. Charon nodded, the blank expression returned to his face as if nothing had happened. I looked at the notebook that was Charon's contract. Tommy and I would have to take a look at it later. But for now, the only thing that mattered was getting that radio dish attached and getting this job done. I introduced Charon to Tommy and explained the details of our meeting. Needless to say, he wasn't happy. I simply told him that now we were ready. We spent the night at Carol's place. As I lay in bed drifting off to sleep, I smiled. We were in business.

**Author's note: Well I had a terrible case of writer's block for this chapter. Hopefully the next chapter will not be so hard to write. And yes Charon will be sticking around. I have a good idea on what to do with his character. Do you think the rating should change to M? I know this chapter was a little more graphic than the others. Please review if you read this. See ya!**


	14. The Bargain

**Disclaimer: I don't own Fallout 3**

1-13 The Bargain

**Butch's point of view**

One of the few perks of being stuck at G.N.R. was that food was pretty good. It wasn't exactly prime rib, but it might as well have been compared to the shit that I ha been eating. It had been five days since Tommy and Quail left. I was starting to get worried. I wouldn't know quite what to do if Tommy died. I guess would still go after his dad. Tommy's dad would have been the closest thing I had left to family. I was sitting with my leg propped up on a chair across from a brotherhood initiate I had grown fond of. His name was Aaron Fitzgerald.

"Eat some more eggs Deloira." Aaron pointed, "You have to get your strength back."

"I'm not hungry." I replied. They had let me get out of bed yesterday. I had to use crutches, but they had told me that I was recovering at a remarkable rate and that I would be back on my feet in two to three more days.

"Look if you're worried about your friends, don't be." He assured me, "I saw that guy, Richards, in action. They'll be just fine."

"Well why is taking so long?" I asked, frustrated.

"The mall's a dangerous place," he said, "They probably had to seek out some form of shelter."

"Well I'm just a little worried." I sighed, "If they're dead, then… I don't know what I'll do. I don't know anyone out here."

"I could put in a good word for you with Lyons, the next time she swings by." Aaron suggested, "Maybe you could join up."

"Maybe," I thought about it. The brotherhood of steel did seem like a good backup plan. Suddenly another brotherhood initiate interrupted my thoughts.

"We've got a problem!" he shouted, terrified. The kid couldn't have been any older than seventeen.

"Calm down kid, what's the problem?" a Paladin said calmly.

"There's about fifteen guys out there!" he said terrified, "Half of them are talon, and half of them are another group that I don't recognize."

"What's the problem then?" the Paladin asked, "We can handle talon and a bunch wastelanders."

"One of the wastelanders has enough mini-nukes strapped to his chest to blow up the building!" the initiate shouted.

"Gear up men," the paladin said with wide eyes, "We may have a situation here." The brotherhood soldier clasped on their helmets and grabbed their weapons before following their commander through the door.

"Come on Butch, you've gotta get to safety." Aaron said in the synthetic voice of the suits. I shook my head.

"I'm tired of hiding." I said softly, "As long as I don't have to run I'll be okay."

"Butch…"

"No!" I persisted, "Just give me a weapon." Aaron hesitated for a moment before giving me the Chinese assault rifle that had been given to me as a gift. After strapping the weapon to my back, and stepping onto my crutches, Aaron and I followed a group of five more soldiers onto a balcony which overlooked the courtyard. The initiate's estimation had been correct. There were indeed fifteen soldiers. Half of them were dressed in black combat armor. The others were dressed in ragged clothes and a hood like mask which gave them a creepy look. One of them could barely stand, because of the ten mini nukes strapped to him. He wore a watch around his wrist. One of the soldiers in black armor stepped forward.

"Do you have two men named Thomas Macarthur and Butch Deloira in there?!" he shouted. My eyes widened. They were here for Tommy and me. I looked at the brotherhood and nodded.

"Mr. Macarthur isn't here!" I shouted back to him.

"Oh, well that's a shame." The man said in mock sadness. He walked over to the man with the bombs, "My friend Charlie here has a crusade to fulfill!" the man patted Charlie on the back, "I didn't fully understand, but these people told me that they have to avenge the defiling of a shrine to Atom! Now who would destroy a religious shrine for money?!"

"You would for the right price!" I retorted.

"Who is speaking?" he demanded. I glanced at Aaron who shook his head.

"You're talking to Butch Deloira!" I yelled back.

"So Mr. Deloira you're here are you?" the man grinned, "Where's your friend?"

"He's on vacation." I yelled. This coaxed some laughter from the brotherhood.

"Don't test me Deloira!" The man growled, "We're not afraid of dying, but I suspect that you are!"

"And what's to stop us from shooting your little suicide bomber in the head?!" the paladin who I had come to know as Alfred shouted, "Where will your bargaining power be then?!"

"That wouldn't be a bad idea my friend, except for one thing," The man said almost casually. He walked over to Charlie and said something along the lines of lift up your arm, because that's exactly what he did. I could now see clearly that a wire ran from the watch to the bomb strapped to his chest. At that point I knew we were in some serious trouble. "You see this fancy-shmancy watch here?!" the man shouted, "This here's a heart rate monitor! You can see that it's attached to this bomb! So guess what, if you do decide to shoot my buddy here, then Kansas goes fuckin' bye bye!"

"Alright what do you want?" Alfred sighed.

"It's simple my bucket-head friend!" The man yelled, "I haven't sensed any lie in your voice yet so Macarthur isn't here. However, we're not leaving without at least part of the job finished. If you're listening Deloira, then you'd better come down."

"Forget it!" Alfred shouted, "We're not giving you anyone!"

"That's just fine!" the man shouted back, "But then my friend Charlie's gonna have to explode!" Aaron and I exchanged nervous looks. "I'll tell you what." The man said seriously, "I'll give you one hour to decide. After that this entire area goes up in smoke."

"Butch Alfred wants to see you." Aaron said softly. I nodded and we walked inside. Alfred was a huge dark skinned man, with a naturally gruff voice, but surprisingly soft eyes.

"Listen Deloira," he began, "You don't have to do this."

"What choice do we have?" I said emptily, "That bomb looked pretty genuine."

"But we don't even know what they want." Aaron protested.

"I think I do." I quickly summarized the incident with Burke.

"That would make sense." Alfred agreed, "But I'm not sending you to you're death."

"You don't know that it's gonna be my death," I said my voice rising, "If they wanted to kill me, they would have just had the atom worshippers detonate the bomb."

"I don't want your blood on my hands!" Alfred shot back.

"How many people are stationed at this base?" I asked.

"Just over fifty." Aaron told me.

"I don't want fifty innocent deaths on my hands!" I yelled. Alfred looked surprised.

"Alright Deloira," he agreed, "If you're that sure about this."

"I am." I assured him.

"We're sending someone after you as we can." Aaron assured me. I nodded.

"Alright we'll walk you down." Alfred said. No words passed between us as we walked down the stairs. We stopped at the front door. I opened it.

"Don't shoot!" I shouted, "I'm coming out!" I silently shook Aaron's hand and hobbled out the door. It shut behind me. I walked as fast as I could too the man who appeared to be their leader. They quickly searched me for weapons.

"So how'd you get that boo boo?" the man asked me.

"I stubbed my toe." I replied coldly. The man quietly snickered before jamming a gun into my ribs and half dragging, half marching me into the ruined school.

"So Deloira, are you tired?" The man asked, reveling in his victory.

"Why?" I asked, puzzled. Suddenly a burlap sack was pulled over my head, and I knew nothing more.

**Author's note: Thank you so much carlsminigun for your review. You have no idea how much it means. I haven't gotten a review in ages. This took so long because of the holidays and stuff. I have decided that from now on, I'm only going to update on the weekends. It is just too hard to keep up with schoolwork and this. Hopefully I'll be able to update more consistently with better chapters, as this new schedule will give me time to think of a good chapter. Bye for now!**


	15. The Contract

1-14 The Contract

**Tommy's point of view**

_Day one: Subjects one to five were presented to the board today. All are in peak physical condition for their age group. Testing will begin tomorrow._

_ Day eleven: Subject four is showing signs of a breaking point. This has happened faster than hypothesized. Subject two is showing to be the most skilled in weapons. Subjects one and five are non-resistant to the tests, but have not yet reached the breaking point. Subject three however is showing resistance and no response to the videos. We will have to take more drastic measures to accomplish our goals._

_ Day twenty five: Subjects one, two, four, and five have been broken and are currently having final emotion tests. Subject three is still a work in progress. While he is showing an increase in obedience he still will not do commands against his morals. This will have to be remedied._

***

"Hey Quail have you been reading Charon's contract at all?" I asked. We had stopped for the night in one of the subway tunnels on the way back to G.N.R. Our mission had been successful, although Three Dog had said he had bad news for me over the radio.

"Nope." He replied, "To be honest kid, I've never exactly been much of a reader." My nightmares had finally become fewer and far between before disappearing entirely. This actually disturbed me. Did it mean that I had become completely desensitized to violence and killing?

"What can you tell me about the experiments in this contract Charon?" I turned to the ghoul.

"Nothing Master." He replied, "It binds me to serve you. Do you have any orders?" Charon was about the worst conversationalists I had ever met.

"No Charon get some rest." I answered, "You too Quail. I'll take first watch."

"You sure kiddo?" Quail asked.

"Yeah, I'm not really tired." I answered, "I wanna keep reading anyways."

"Whatever you say kid," he said as he lay down, "I gotta get my beauty sleep anyways." I grinned. In a few minutes their ragged breathing told me they were asleep. I continued to read.

***

_ Day forty two: Subject four has shown increased response to the trigger phrase Douglas. _

_ Day forty five: Subjects one, two, four, and five have shown responsiveness to the trigger phrases Thompson, Carter, Douglas, and Grant respectively. After three straight days of video, subject three appears to have reached the breaking point. The binding tests will begin tomorrow._

_ Day forty six: Subjects one, two, four, and five began the binding tests today. This will be increasingly grueling for them. Subject three has been unresponsive to our various trigger phases so far._

_ Day fifty seven: Subject four or as he is now known as Douglas, has passed the tests and is ready to serve. The trigger phrase activate persona Christopher Daniels. Subjects one, two, and five remain in the binding tests. Subject three has begun to show increased response to the trigger phase Charon._

_ Day sixty three: Subjects one (known as Thompson), two (known as Carter), and five (known as Grant) have finished the binding tests and are ready to serve. Subject three has responded to the trigger phrase Charon. The binding tests will begin for him tomorrow. Thompson, Carter, Douglas, and Grant must pass one final test._

_ Day sixty four: Thompson, Carter, Douglas, and Grant each passed their final test. This test was to kill the person closest to them. There was no hesitation. They are now the soldiers we will need. Subject three or Charon continues to make progress._

_ Day seventy one: This notebook is now bound to Charon. He showed responsiveness to nothing else. His final test will commence tomorrow._

_ Day seventy two: To anyone who finds this please read it. I don't know how much time I have. I managed to get the contract away from Charon, but have suffered grievously for it. All of the tests failed. When confronted with his parents, Charon defended them and killed everyone ironically even them. The other subjects were also killed. Unfortunately the emergency trigger phrase did not work on Charon in his rage. I'll give t you now. Activate persona Miles Donahughe. Please accept my last wish. I'm sorry everyone, I failed. It's cold._

***

The words ran of the page in a messy scrawl, followed by what appeared to be a stain of blood. I looked at Charon. _Just who are you? _The questions would have to wait until the morning. I sighed and lay down to sleep.

** Author's note: I apologize for the length of this chapter. I have had midterms, so both my free time, and my imagination have become strained. I promise you the next one will be better.**


	16. Miles

**Disclaimer: I don't own Fallout 3**

1-15 Miles

**Quail's point of view**

"I think we might have a problem."

"Shoot kid ya think?"

Charon walked a small distance ahead of us in the dark subway. His powerful shotgun was pointed in front of him in case of danger. He had proved to be useful so far.

"No listen." Tommy insisted. I sighed.

"Alright are you wetting the bed or something?" I joked.

"It's Charon," he answered with a hint of fear, "I think he's dangerous."

"Well no shit he's dangerous," I laughed, "That's why I bought him!"

"This is serious," he hissed. He pulled out the notebook that was Charon's contract, "The contract talks about some program which conducted experiments to build the perfect soldier."

"So?"

"So the perfect soldier meant brainwashing him into a mindless robot."

"Then what's the problem?" I asked.

"At the end of this contract a note talks about how Charon disobeyed an order and killed everyone." I stopped and turned to him.

"So what do we do?"

"There's a trigger phrase we can use on him to undo the brainwashing." Tommy whispered.

"Well then use it." I said forcefully, "I don't want a crazed ghoul to kill us in our sleep."

"What if he loses it again?" Tommy asked concerned. I put an energy cell into my laser pistol.

"Don't worry." I said. Tommy jogged ahead of us a bit.

"Charon?" he said nervously.

"Yes master?"

"Does the phrase activate persona Miles Donahughe mean anything?" He said quietly but forcefully. Charon stopped abruptly. Tommy glanced to me fearfully I steadied my aim.

"What did you say?" he whispered.

"Excuse me?" Charon suddenly lunged forward and slammed Tommy into the subway wall. I aimed my weapon.

"Drop him or I shoot." I said calmly. Charon seemed to ignore me.

"Where did you hear that?" the ghoul rasped venomously. Tommy tried to say something but his words were cut off.

"Answer me!" he commanded.

"The contract…" Tommy wheezed. Charon threw him to the ground and aimed his rifle. I fired hitting him in the shoulder. He looked up. It did not appear to affect him. He raised his shotgun and fired. It caught me in the chest, but luckily my combat armor absorbed most of the blow. However it still knocked me off my feet. I tasted blood. I raised my head to see Charon aiming for the killing blow, but I quickly rolled out of the way. The concrete next to me exploded into dust. Swinging my legs, I managed to trip him up. Charon fell to the ground with a crash, but it did not stop him for long. I drew my pistol and aimed to fire, but Charon hit me like a freight train. The pistol fell from my grasp. Charon lifted me and slammed into a wall slowly choking the life out of me. As he was doing this I heard him shouting.

"YOU THINK YOU CAN MAKE ME YOUR SLAVE? I'M A HUMAN ANDD THEY WERE TOO!" he roared. My eyes began to darken. _NO._ With one last gasp of breath, I kicked forward with all my strength. I was rewarded with a shrill cry that told me I had connected with the ghoul's groin. I fell gasping for breath. _GET UP. _ The voice of trainer crackled through my head like lightning. I drew a knife from my boot and lunged. Charon caught my wrist as it came down stopping it from stabbing him, but using my other hand, I punched him in the face; Charon in turn headbutted me. I saw stars as I fell to the ground. He began to choke me again. I reached for the knife, but it was too far. My vision darkened.

_BANG!_

Charon made no noise, he merely slumped t the ground. Through my coughing and retching, I saw Tommy holding a smoking 44.

"Are you ok?" he asked giving me a hand up.

"I think so." I replied. I heard a groan. Charon was still alive with blood pumping from his wounds freely. Tommy knelt down to him and held the gun to his head.

"Explain yourself." He said forcefully.

"Go ahead." Charon rasped, "Finish it. I'm already dead."

"Who are you?" I wheezed.

"I think you know that doctor." He replied.

"We're not doctors." Tommy said, "Now tell us who you are and we'll help you." Charon glanced at us quizzically before answering. Tommy increased the pressure on his wound.

"About three months back, my parents woke me up in the middle of the night saying we had to leave. I might only be fourteen, but I'm not naïve. I knew what had happened. The bombs were finally dropping. Lucky for us, my father was well enough off to reserve us a place in one of those vaults. It was four in the morning when we got there, but it was bright out. Can you guess why? It was quite the sight, all those religious doomsayers shouting to repent. We made it to the vault in time to survive the fire. That first night was awful. Everyone knew they had survived, but the only reason being the money in our wallets." By now I had given him a stimpack and the bleeding had stopped. We sat by the light of Tommy's pipboy and listened.

"On the first day, they took us from our beds. They said we were needed for protection when we left the vault. Right. We all knew what they wanted. To break us. Make us beg for the pain to stop. I was the last of them to give in. I don't remember much after that. I remember them asking me to kill my parents. I remember there was a group of people who saved me from dying. Then you." Charon was finished.

"What's your name?" I asked, "Your real name."

"It's on the contract." He replied, "Miles." Tommy studied him, searching for any hint of falseness. There was none.

"Nice to meet you Miles." He said. I nodded my agreement.

"Do you know where my parents are?" Miles asked suddenly with all the innocence of the child he believed himself to be. Tommy looked lost as to what to do. How do you tell someone that their parents are dead? For that matter, how do you tell someone they've missed the last two hundred years?

"No." I whispered, "I'm sorry we don't."

"Will you help me find them?" he asked worriedly. Tommy sighed.

"Miles listen to me." He explained carefully, "The war you told us about, happened almost two hundred years ago. Your parents are dead." Miles stared. Then he stood up.

"I don't believe you." He said coldly. I tensed my grip on the pistol.

"It's true." Tommy pleaded, "How else do you explain your new clothes and weapons? What about the fact you're a ghoul?"

"Shut the fuck up." He glowered, "This is just another of your experiments. All you've done is inject me with some hallucinogen to see how I react. You wanna see if I'm a stone cold killer." He drew his shotgun.

"Maybe I am."

"Miles don't!" I shouted, "Come with us! We'll prove it to you!"

"Why should I go with you?" he roared, "You'll put me out as soon as I get close enough!"

"Because I lost my parents too!" Tommy shouted. Miles turned.

"What?"

"My mom's dead and my dad abandoned me. That's why we're out here!" he yelled. Miles appeared to consider this.

"Why should I believe you?" he asked darkly.

"Look at my wrist." I said, "No computer there. I'm not from some vault."

"He has one." Miles pointed to Tommy.

"I'm from a vault too." Tommy said. Miles didn't appear convinced.

"Why do you need me?" he asked.

"We need an ally." I answered, "Someone we can count on in a fight. A friend." His face appeared to soften a bit at this. There was an awkward silence in which he didn't answer.

"You know what?" Tommy said finally, "Do whatever you want. I have to find my father." He turned and walked into the darkness. I shrugged to Miles and began to follow. It only took thirty seconds before I heard him begin to follow us. I smiled. Back to work.

**Back to work indeed. I won't lie. I quit. I gave up on this story. School became too much stress. I doubted that the story was any good too. I checked on it the other day and noticed some positive reviews. So I'd like to give a big thanks to the people that wrote those, because you made me decide to come back. I hope for good. As always read and review and give me any tips, critiques, advice you might have. I want this story to be perfect in every way possible. Bye for now!**


	17. Punishment

**Disclaimer: I don't own Fallout 3**

1-16 Punishment

**Butch's point of view**

The days blurred together. How long had it been? Days? Weeks? My leg was not healing any faster thanks to the rough treatment I had received. For the first time in ages, the leader of the small band of men pulled the hood off of my head. I squinted waiting for my eyes to adjust to the blinding light of the fire we sat beside. It was dark out, with sentries posted around the camp to keep watch.

"Mornin' sunshine!" the leader said with a grin, "Or should I say goodnight?"

"Fuck you." I replied bluntly. He gave me a look of mock hurt.

"Why don't you just be nice?" he said, "I got no quarrel with you. This isn't anything personal you know."

"Riiiiight." I said glibly, "You're only taking me to God knows where to be executed by a madman."

"This is just a way of life you know." He rationalized, "It's only a way to pull in caps." I rolled my eyes. Suddenly I noticed something.

"Where are the atom worshipers?" I asked.

"We had a bit of a disagreement about what to do with you." He said slyly.

"Uh huh." I muttered, "How'd you not blow yourselves up?"

"Easy, shoot 'em with a tranquilizer, then get far enough away to blow 'em to hell." He grinned. I shook my head.

"Where are you taking me?" I asked.

"To Burke."

"I want a location." I ordered.

"Why, so you can find some way to signal your friends so they'll come rescue you?" he snarled, "I've been playing this game a long time kid. I aint stupid."

"Really?"

"Shut up." He growled, "You'll get yours eventually kid. And it aint gonna be pleasant."

After the short rest, the hood was pulled over my head and we continued on our way. The only bright side of the situation was that my foot was finally starting to feel a little better. Without warning we stopped.

"That you Lev?" a voice crackled from an intercom asked.

"Yeah." Replied a voice I recognized to be the leader's, "Package for Mr. Burke."

"Looks like you only brought half of it." The voice crackled back, "You took long enough didn't you?"

"Just open the damned gate." Lev said impatiently. In response there was a screeching noise and I was dragged, not walked, away. My heart began to pound. What was going to happen? Was I going to die? Probably. I was afraid of dying. Well, not of dying. The biggest question. What happens after dying? Is there some kind of paradise waiting for us? Maybe there wasn't anything at all. I supposed that it wouldn't really matter. I'd find out in a few minutes. A door opened and creaked shut. The talon mercenaries breathed unevenly and nervously. I was terrified. Why couldn't they at least let me see what was going on.

"Hello there." A familiar voice said, "You're late but no harm done. As long as the job is finished."

"There was a mix up sir." Lev said nervously, "Macarthur wasn't there."

"So you didn't question him at all?" Burke said menacingly. Lev shifted his feet uneasily.

"No sir." He whispered.

"So, you dragged him across the wastes for a week and the thought never crossed your mind to interrogate him?" he questioned coolly.

"No sir."

"Tut tut." Burke clicked, "You gentlemen truly are disappointing. You're the best Talon can offer no?"

"Yes sir." Lev replied.

"That's too bad." Burke said, "Perhaps I need to expand the market of my employees."

"Are yah saying we're fired?" Lev asked.

"I guess that is one way of putting it." Burke replied icily.

"I guess we'll just go then." Lev sounded almost relieved.

"Nonsense, nonsense!" Burke cried, "You still get half of the caps."

"Thank you sir that's very generous."

"Don't mention it." Burke replied, "Before you go, can I offer you gentlemen a drink?" Even though I couldn't see, the whole room appeared to tense up.

"That's okay sir," Lev said anxiously, "We have to leave anyways."

"Nonsense I insist!" Burke said, "Don't go anywhere now." I heard a few footsteps as he walked away.

"Come on let's go." Lev hissed. I heard them moving. The door did not creak.

"Shit locked." One of them whispered.

"We're gonna die." One said. I heard a kicking noise as one of them tried to break the door down.

"Shut up and let me think." Lev said. One man continued to try to break the door down.

_Click._

"Oh my God!" one exclaimed.

"Burke please!" Lev pleaded, "Give us another Chance!" What was happening? Was I going to die? Suddenly I felt a gun barrel on the back of my head.

"You let us go Burke!" one of them shouted nervously, "I'll kill him!" I was going to die. It was over.

_Click._

One of the mercenaries opened fire throughout the room. There was another click and the gunfire fell silent. I tried to tune out the screams of terror and pain. It didn't work. Suddenly the hood was pulled off my head. The room was dimly lit, with very little furniture. There was a back room with the door open, and a desk appeared to be at the back of the wall. The room smelled terrible, blood and brain matter and bodies lined the place. Some were barely recognizable.

"Burke?" I whispered. Suddenly Burke shimmered into view, the effects of a stealthboy wearing off.

"I'm sorry about the mess." Burke said cordially, "Mr. err Deloria am I correct?" I nodded.

"Why did you kill them?" I asked referring to the mercenaries. Burke raised his eyebrows behind his sunglasses.

"They failed." He replied simply.

"But you locked the door; you were going to kill them all along." I realized.

"The guard phoned ahead and told me," he said, "So yes."

"And now you're going to kill me." I said sullenly. Burke shook his head.

"When I was a boy I didn't have much. I worked to keep our little shack in the wilderness safe. There was no time for fun or enjoyment. My father used to tell me that every day was a test and that if you failed, then you had to be punished. I had a beautiful dog when I was a boy Deloria. She was sweet golden retriever with thick fur and the kindest eyes you'd ever seen. She was my only friend. The only comfort I had was to play fetch or tug of war or whatever. We were inseparable. Now my family didn't have much food on a good day. But one year was especially terrible. My father could have killed her. One less mouth to feed. One night I was especially hungry. I hadn't had food for nearly two days. We had a small store in case of an emergency. Now we each got our share, but I was so hungry. I snuck more then I should have. Unfortunately for me my father found out. Now my father was a kind man, a great man. But he was not a forgiving man. He could have whipped me, beat me; cast me out of the house. But no!" Burke shouted, "He took her and he shot her! The only joy in my life! Just to teach me a lesson!"

"Why are you telling me this?" I asked afraid. Burke shook his head in anger.

"Because I need you to understand why you and your friend need to be punished." He replied, "That day in Megaton, you broke the rules. And you failed the test."

"If you're gonna kill me then just do it." I shot back, "Don't try to justify it." Burke merely laughed.

"You weren't paying attention to the story my boy!" he exclaimed, "My father could have hurt me directly. No he wanted to make sure that I'd never disobey again, so he made me suffer and insured I'd learn my lesson."

"So what are you gonna do?" I asked anxiously.

"Have you ever heard of Pittsburgh Deloria?" he asked slyly. I nodded, "It's gone a bit downhill since the bombs dropped, but they're doing their best to rebuild."

"What are you saying?"

"Rebuilding a city is a lot of work." He replied slowly, "They need a lot ofworkers."

"You mean slaves."

"No I mean workers." He said coldly, "They'll have their freedom. And eventually you will too."

"You're a sick fuck." I shot back, "You're making us suffer as much as you can." Burke walked behind me and opened the door. He whispered something and a few guards grabbed me and began to drag me away.

"I'm sorry Deloria." He said almost kindly, "You have to learn your lesson."

"Go to hell!" I shouted as I was hauled away.

"Don't worry Deloria!" he laughed, "The Pitt's lovely this time of year."

"God have mercy on your soul Burke!" I shouted, "Because Tommy isn't going to!" Someone hit me in the back of the head and I knew nothing more.

** So there you have it. Butch's fate. I hope you like it. Thanks ****cazertanu**** and fallen-wolfborn for the reviews. I'm glad you're enjoying the story. As always read and review. Bye for now!**


	18. You Win Some You Lose Some

**Disclaimer: I don't own fallout 3**

1-17 You Win Some You Lose Some

**Tommy's point of view**

"I could be hallucinating."

"You're not hallucinating Miles."

"You could have given me something pretty powerful."

"Like what? Besides anything we could have given you would have worn off by now."

Miles seemed to be at a loss for words. Maybe he was finally accepting the truth. Right now we were attempting to climb up the rocky outcropping, which led to the door we exited G.N.R. from.

"Miles give me a boost up." I said, "You're the tallest." Miles formed his hands into a cup shape for me to step on. Lucky for us it worked. Once on the ledge I pulled up both Quail and Miles.

"So what was all in that contract of mine that you speak about so much?" Miles asked.

"Not much really kid." Quail replied.

"Yeah a two hundred year old kid." He said sarcastically. I smirked. Things were finally starting to look up. I had a new ally, and I was one step closer to finding my father. Maybe once I did I could go back to the vault. I doubted it. The overseer would never allow. I thought briefly of Amata. I shook my head. Too much had changed anyways. I was a killer. I didn't like it, but I had grown to accept it. I decided this explained the lack of nightmares I was having.

"Hey vaultie you awake?" Quail asked.

"Sorry." I replied, "I zoned out for second there."

"You guys never answered my question." Miles reminded us, "What was in that contract?"

"Now isn't really the best time Miles." I told him, "I'll tell you later."

"Promise?"

"Promise." It was kind of funny. Miles was over two hundred years old, but he had the mind of a fourteen year old. Despite this mind, Miles had no innocence. He seemed to be a killer. We climbed up the second ledge the same way we had the first.

"The door's locked." Quail said. He looked to me and shrugged.

"Not for long it is." I replied, "Miles give me your shotgun."

"Are you gonna blow down the door?" he asked.

"Yeah why?"

"Can I?" he asked mischievously. His eyes twinkled with curiosity.

"Be my guest." I replied. Miles took aim at the door and fired at the window of it. The noise was deafening. There was a cry of "Jesus Christ!" from inside to which we all laughed. Suddenly Three Dog's face appeared. Three Dog wasn't exactly a bad guy. He could have been fairer in our deal, but I supposed it worked out to my advantage. I had a new ally, and I would know where my father had gone. His voice still annoyed me though.

"Jesus kiddo." He said anxiously, "You could've knocked."

"I wasn't sure if you'd let us in." I replied. Three Dog unlocked what remained of the door and let us in.

"Who's your friend?" he asked referring to Miles.

"This is Miles." Quail answered, "We picked him up in Underworld."

"So that's why you took two weeks." Three Dog realized, "Better late than never I guess. We're broadcasting better than ever. I've never had so many listeners. So thank you."

"My vaultie friend here has missing dad remember." Quail reminded him.

"Yeah I remember. But first I have some bad news." Three Dog wiped his glasses, "I don't know how to tell you this Tommy."

"Spit it out." Miles said. Three Dog sighed.

"Sit down." He said, "While you guys were gone, there was an attack on the place by a group of Talon mercs and Atom worshippers. They had a bomb. It could have destroyed the entire building."

"Burke." I muttered, "What did you do?"

"The leader of the group asked where you were. We told him you were not here. Your friend Butch identified himself. They threatened to blow us up and gave us an hour. Your friend Butch told us he would go with them. We begged him to stay with us but he refused. The last I saw he had a hood pulled over his head and got dragged away."

I didn't say a word.

"I'm sorry Tommy." He said sorrowfully.

This was my fault. Butch was dead and it was my fault.

"Your father's in Rivet City. Do you know where?"

"Are you ok Tommy?" Quail asked.

"Say something man." Miles said.

"Where is he?" I asked quietly to Three Dog.

"He's in Rivet City like I said." He replied.

"No. Not him. Where's Butch?"

"I don't know."

"Excuse me?"

"I don't know. They never said where this Burke guy was." Three Dog claimed. I shook my head.

"Yes you do." I shot back. Suddenly I stood up and tackled him to the ground. After a brief struggle, I had him in a choke hold.

"Tommy get off him!" Quail shouted.

"WHERE THE FUCK IS HE?" I shouted at the top of my lungs. I felt Miles trying to pull me away. No. I had to do this.

"I… told you… don't know…" he wheezed. I tightened my grip.

"SHUT UP!" I yelled, "MR. VOICE OF THE PEOPLE! WHERE IS BURKE?"

"Please…" Three Dog wheezed. His eyes rolled up into his head.

"LIAR!" I screamed. Suddenly I heard a gun barrel click.

"Let him go Tommy." Quail held the pistol to my head. Three Dog struggled to breathe.

"Why?" I cried, "He's a liar!"

"No he isn't." Miles said.

"Tommy if you want to find Burke and therefore Butch the best place to look would be Rivet City." Quail reasoned, "There are too many people there, one them has to know where Burke is."

"He deserves it!" I sobbed. He had to. Someone needed to be punished.

"No he doesn't." Miles yelled at me.

"Come on Tommy." Quail pleaded, "Don't make me do it. What do you think your girl Amata would think of you right now? What about your father? What about Butch? What would they think?"

Then it hit me. What was I doing? Oh God what was I doing? This was cold blood. I released Three Dog who began to cough and retch. What did I do? What did I almost do?

"I'm sorry!" I sobbed. The tears flowed free now, "I'm so sorry!"

"It's okay man!" Miles said, "He's fine!"

"What's wrong with me?" I cried, "I almost killed someone in cold blood!"

"Don't worry Tommy!" Quail said, "He's going to be ok! It's over now!"

"It's never going to be over!" I bawled, "There will always be something! Death, violence, hate! It's never over!" I cried like a baby. Miles and Quail comforted me like a parent might comfort a child after a nightmare. I finally finished and stood up.

"It's ok Tommy." Quail assured me, "Miles and I will help you find him. And we'll help you find your dad too."

"Yeah!" Miles grinned. I looked at the two of them. We were comrades, friends even. We knew we would support each other to the end.

"Thank you." I said. Turning to Three Dog I said I was sorry.

"Don't mention it kid." He said, "I was an ass about the whole radio tower thing. Bygones okay." I nodded. We walked down the stairs out of his office.

"What's the fastest way to Rivet City?" I asked. Quail began but was interrupted by a young brotherhood member.

"Tommy right?" he asked. I nodded, "Initiate Aaron Fitzgerald at your service sir."

"What can I do for you Fitzgerald?" I asked.

"Your friend was very brave to do what he did." He said quietly, "I just wanted to say I was sorry for what happened." I tensed up. Miles put a hand on my shoulder.

"Thank you." Quail said, "We appreciate that." He ushered me into the courtyard.

"Is this going to be a problem?" he asked. I shook my head.

"What's the fastest way to Rivet City?" I asked again.

"We're going through the tunnel we took to get here." He explained, "After that we follow the river."

"Goody more tunnels." Miles quipped. Quail nodded.

"Let's get going then." I said. I'm coming Burke. I hope for your sakes you haven't hurt him. I'm coming and you'd better be ready.

** Thanks once again cazertanu for reviewing. I usually try to thank my reviewers. As always read and review. Tips are appreciated. Bye for now!**


	19. The Veteran

**Disclaimer: I don't own fallout 3**

1-18 The Veteran

**Quail's point of view**

"How can I help you fine gentlemen?" the old man asked. I glanced at Tommy and eased him forward.

"We were told you knew something about a man named Burke." Tommy replied hopefully. The old man turned, scratched his head quizzically, and smiled.

"Yes," he said, "You've come to the right place."

"Spit it out old man." Miles said.

"Watch your mouth ghoul." He shot back. I shifted uncomfortably. We stood on the highest point of the Rivet City tower with the old man named Lopez. I hated coming to Rivet City. It was probably the safest place in the wasteland, and some people did not even have mutations. However, there was crime, violence, drugs among children. The place had too many social barriers with the rich living on the upper deck and the poor jammed into the cramped dark lower decks. Although safe from outside forces, the hull was leaky and disease was common. The city was a beacon of hope, but that was all it was. In reality it was the same as every other place.

"Miles be quiet." I commanded absentmindedly, "Please Lopez. Anything you may know is helpful." Lopez sighed, turned around, and stared out at the vast expanse of the D.C. ruins.

"Tell me," he wondered, "Have any of you ever heard of the Mercenary wars?" Tommy and Miles shrugged. I shook my head.

"Don't remind me." I sighed.

"Ah, good!" he smiled, "I'm glad to see at least one of you knows your history."

"It's not history," I replied, "I was there."

"We don't have time for your history lessons Lopez." Tommy said, "My friend is out there somewhere dead or worse, and it's all because of Burke." Lopez stared coldly.

"I've suffered greatly at this man's hands." He said, "Your friend is not dead."

"Where is he then?"

"I don't know." Lopez replied, "All I know is that this man is cruel. He will do whatever it takes to make you suffer most. He will find what is most painful for you and he will punish you. In my case he happened to kill my family." There was silence for awhile.

"I wasn't in this part of the wastes for the war." Miles said, "Who are you really?" Lopez managed to crack a smile.

"Now that is quite a question." Lopez replied, "I've done many things in my life that I'm not proud of. I've done such terrible things that I've become known as the Angel of Death."

"You." I said. I pointed my gun at him.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" Tommy shouted, "Don't hurt him Quail we need him!"

"No my dear boy I deserve this." Lopez said.

"What the hell are you talking about Lopez?" Miles asked.

"His name aint Lopez, "I hissed, "It's Captain Owen Lars of Talon Company!"

"What did you do?" Tommy asked Lars.

"I ended the God damn war." He answered simply.

"Ordering the nuking of the Regulators main base is not ending a war!" I shouted.

"Too many innocent lives were lost up to that point." Lars explained, "You think I enjoyed what I did? No, I made the hard decision no one else would. And now you three offer me a chance to help atone for those sins."

"How did you even survive?" I asked, "The Brotherhood put together their biggest operation I've ever seen and snuffed the plant out."

"A secret." He answered, "None of that matters anyways. I was ordered to do that by Burke. It is a little known fact that Burke funded Talon's whole damn operation during the war."

"Where would he get so much money?" Tommy asked.

"Through Tenpenny of course," Lars exclaimed, "Jesus don't you know anything?"

"Do you know where Burke is?" Miles questioned.

"I'm not too sure." Lars said, "He may be at Tenpenny Tower still, but he may have moved on." I lowered my gun. Lars was not as malevolent as the stories made him out to be.

"Why would you help us?" I asked. Lars looked confused.

"After the war was over I was disgusted. I had done terrible things." He explained, "I told Burke I was done. He refused to let me leave, but I did anyways. I heard him shouting some bullshit that I would be punished. I went into hiding after that. I started a family, beautiful wife, beautiful kids. One day I got home from trading at Megaton. My family was dead. It was no random raiding, nothing had been taken. Then I saw the note it was written in their blood."

"What did it say?" Tommy asked anxiously.

"We all make choices." He answered, "Do you regret yours?" He began to walk away.

"Start gathering weapons." He called back, "We're gonna need a lot of fire power to get into Tenpenny Tower."

"Let's go to the markets Quail." Miles said. I shook my head.

"Go on without me." I said, "I'll catch up." Tommy shrugged and began to walk away followed by Miles. I stared out over the sea of crumbling buildings in the beginning darkness. _We all make choices. Do you regret yours? _Looking back now I wonder. Do I regret my choices?

**I'm sorry this has taken so long to come out guys. I've been really busy with finals, and I also got my first job! But things have died down a bit so I've finally gotten a chance to write. I know this chapter is rather short and maybe a bit dull, but it is only a set up for the next few chapters which will be the season finale chapters. I'd like to thank bungle and Stonekipsta for their kind reviews and compliments. Thanks as well Stonekipsta for the tips. I know my grammar isn't good, but it really isn't my forte. I'll try my best to get better at it, because I want this to be the best story it can be. Stay tuned for the season finale. I'll have the first part out as soon as possible. Bye for now!**


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